BREAST CANCER....REASON, DETECTION, CURE , TREATMENT COST AND MASTECTOMY

An Academy Award, two Screen Actor Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. No need to name this brave actress from Hollywood who recently revealed the news of double mastectomy (Removal of both the breasts) after learning she had an 87% risk of developing breast cancer due to a defective gene.

Angelina Jolie has often been looked as world's "MOST BEAUTIFUL" women but above that she is brave enough to accept the truth in front of the world. She has set an example for rest of the world.

Now people are scared of the type of cancer which was always most talked about but neglected. Here I am trying to share some information about the reason, detection and cure of the breast cancer and it's associated cost.

Breast cancer can be detected in both male and female. Irrespective of sex the person with the family history of breast cancer at an early age of 30 - 40 yrs is advised to get the gene test done. Preventive Gene test determine the susceptibility of a candidate to breast or ovarian cancer with 70 - 80 % accuracy but it cannot predict how long it could take for genetic defect to cause the disease . Also a person should go for the genetic test after consulting a psychologist (As the positive result may harm that person psychologically ).

Only 5 - 10 % of breast or ovarian cancer are inherited rest are due to lifestyle issue, hormonal problems and environmental cause. Lifestyle factors like obesity, having fewer children, sedentary lifestyle and diet lacking green vegetables and fruits are main causes of breast or ovarian cancer.

Preventive gene test for breast cancer can cost around 50 - 70 K and the cost of double mastectomy is around 80K to few lakhs . Further if someone goes for reconstruction surgery that person has to spend two lakhs for it. So in total the whole process will cost around 4 to 5 lakhs.

Mastectomy is not the only solution for the problem. If the cancer is detected at an early stage than it can be cured differently. Self examination and intensive MRI scanning can detect the cancer at a very early stage.

The symptoms of breast cancer can vary widely from lumps and swelling to skin changes. The earlier the cancer is detected, the better the prognosis for the individual.