Mr Badimah Titus Yelbidong, an Oncologist has advised women to periodically examine their breasts with specialists to avoid breasts cancer.
He said women with big breasts had higher risk of getting breast cancer and stressed the importance of all women having their breasts examined at least twice every two months for both clinical and self-assessment.
Mr Yelbidong, who is an Oncologist at the Tumu Municipal Hospital gave the advice during a breast cancer awareness walk and screening in Tumu at the weekend.
He said reports from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that having dense breast tissue was a risk factor for breast cancer and that the dense breasts tend to have more connective tissues than fatty tissues, which sometimes complicate the process of identifying tumors in mammograms.
“As a result, the CDC says women with dense breasts are more prone to getting breast cancer”, he stressed.
He, however, indicated that there was no specific evidence that linked big breasts to breast cancer, but being obese and overweight increases the risk and advised women to be cautious by having their weight checked.
Mr Yelbidong said some of the symptoms to look out for suspected breasts cancer were the size of the breast, itching, blood from the nipples, and a lump in the breast.
He said some were genetically inherited, while regular constipation and weight loss could be grounds for investigation for suspected breast cancer.
Mr Yelbidong, therefore, warned against the putting of foreign materials in the breast like silicon, enlargement of the size of the breast to be attractive.
The others he mentioned included putting mobile phones on the breast and the continuous exposure to x-ray radiation.
Madam Leatrice Naa Kwarley Richardson, Founder, Flawless Creation Consult said the breast cancer situation in the five Northern regions necessitated the championing of the project as many women were at risk of breast cancer.
“Breast cancer is the most neglected and yet the deadliest of all cancers. In our research, we found that people under these conditions are the most disadvantaged due to economic factors”, she said.
Madam Richardson indicated that the theme for this year, “Safer by the thousand” sought to encourage electronic detection, which used to determine whether one was safe or not.
The Flawless Creations Consult organised the programme, supported by Radford Radio, and selected schools from the Municipality.
Participants included students, women, Fire Service, the Tumu Hospital, and the Ambulance Services.
Out of the 64 persons made of 65 women and nine men, breast cancer was detected in four women.
