Taking care of your breasts in your 30s
Typically, in your 30s your breasts still have good
elasticity and tone. " If you have kids now, you'll notice
changes post-baby. While your breasts get bigger during the
actual pregnancy, you may, alas, permanently go down a half-cup
or cup from your original size once you've given birth and/or
breast-fed. (This phenomenon is called breast involution, a
process where the milk-making system inside the breast shrinks
because it's not needed anymore.)
Your most common concern:
Breast pain. Many women in their 30s have
fibrocystic breasts, a term for tender lumpiness resulting from
hormonal changes. Although uncomfortable, the condition is
benign and doesn't increase breast-cancer risk. By cutting back
on caffeine, you can alleviate some of the pain, as may
taking evening primrose oil (1.3 grams orally twice a day), a
natural form of fatty acid believed to interfere with the
body's production of prostaglandins (inflammatory compounds
that trigger breast pain). For severe cases, doctors sometimes
prescribe Danazol, a steroid derivative that decreases levels
of the reproductive hormones FSH and LH, or tamoxifen, a
breast-cancer drug that helps relieve breast pain by blocking
estrogen receptors, thus preventing estrogen's effect on breast
tissue.
Best breast-cancer-screening strategy:
Talk to your doctor. Discuss having a baseline mammogram
between the ages of 35 and 40. You should also get a yearly
breast exam from your gynecologist and do monthly breast
self-exams. Although the American Cancer Society issued new
guidelines for breast cancer screening in 2003, making
self-exams optional, experts say they're still a must-do. "The
more you examine your breasts, the more likely you are to
differentiate between normal hormone-related bumpiness and a
potentially precancerous growth," Smith says.
A woman who is at higher risk (that is, one who has a family
history with one or more first-degree relatives with breast or
ovarian cancer) should begin having regular annual mammograms
at least 10 years earlier than the age at which her relative
got her cancer diagnosis. So, if your mom found out she had
cancer at age 45, you should start having mammograms done at
age 35. Also, if you have a strong family history of the
disease (two or more first-degree family members like a mother
or grandmother), ask your doctor about receiving genetic
screening to see if you're a carrier of the BRCA gene and ask
about an annual MRI.
Best breast-saving move:
If you do exercises, always wear a good exercise bra, this
will help stave off future droopiness. When you run sans
bra, your breasts bounce up and down 2.6 inches for every step
you take, according to a recent study done at the University of
Portsmouth in England. The reassuring news: The study also
found that wearing a sports bra reduces bounce by 74
percent. Do a bounce test when trying on exercise bras, if
your breasts move when you jump up and down, you're not getting
enough support.
Breast cancer risk:
Your breast-cancer risk is still very low -- only 5 percent
of all cases occur in women younger than 40, according to the
ACS. (Your risk during this decade is about 1 in 233, according
to the National Cancer Institute.) One way to lower your odds
even further: breast-feed. It protects older moms against the
increased risk of breast cancer noted for women who have their
first child after age 25, according to a recent University of
Southern California study.
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