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Breast cancer is the most common neoplastic disease among Mexican women, but the age group most affected is those between 50 and 59 years old.
“More young girls are being diagnosed every day, so every woman who has started menstruating should perform a breast self-examination,” Radiologist Juan Ángel Vargas Mejía is the head of the Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnostic Center of the ISSSTE Bicentenary Regional Superior Specialty Hospital.
The importance of self-examination in detecting breast cancer
This technology increases the likelihood of timely detection of any signs of breast disease, such as:
Stiff dough. Breasts have hard tissue, so when you feel a lump or hard lump (the size of a pencil eraser or marble), it’s a sign of breast disease.
sink. The skin of your breasts should be firm and not dimpled or dimpled; no matter how small they appear, you should see your doctor.
Tangerine skin. When the skin is irregular or looks like cellulite, it is a sign of internal damage that is reflected in the skin.
Nipple discharge. Any fluid coming from the breast that is not related to breastfeeding or pregnancy should be tested, especially reddish fluid.
Changes in color of nipples and areolas. When the color of your nipples and areolas changes, for example, becoming reddish or even crusted, it’s a sign that something is wrong.
Uncomfortable underarms. Pain, redness, and even lumps in your armpits are signs of cancer.
What is a breast button?
“Through self-examination, women will begin to understand their breasts and notice any changes very quickly, so this technique must be taught from the moment a girl or teenager begins hormonal changes and breast buds appear”designated experts.
The small bumps you feel under your nipples, called nipple buttons, usually appear in girls between the ages of 8 and 12 and are the first signs of puberty.
“To perform a self-examination, girls must learn about their body, look in the mirror, feel what their nipples look like, how their breasts are developing and what is in their armpits. To do this, girls must choose a day of the month for self-examination and always It was on the same day.”
This is how a breast self-exam is done, the patient must:
- Nude from the waist up
- Stand in front of a mirror in a well-lit room.
- Use your index and middle fingers to palpate around the breast and then toward the center (clockwise).
- Check your entire underarm, and finally squeeze your nipple gently to see if there is any abnormal leakage. Explore the other breast in the same way.
- Follow the same steps, but lie down with one hand on the back of your head.
10 Mexican women die from cancer every 24 hours
When an immediate family member is diagnosed with breast cancer, diagnostic testing should be done 10 years before the relative’s age at diagnosis.
For example, if the mother is diagnosed with cancer at age 55, the daughters should be tested immediately, while the granddaughters should be tested ten years before their grandmother was diagnosed, at age 45 or earlier. Any warning signs.
What is breast cancer?
Ten Mexican women die from breast cancer every day, and the number of deaths from breast cancer has increased in Mexico over the past decade, while in Europe and the United States the number has dropped sharply, members of the Institute of Biomedicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said. .
Breast cancer mortality among Mexican women is twice that of European and American women because 80% of patients in these regions are diagnosed in the first stages of malignant development, whereas in Mexico the same proportion are diagnosed in later stages. The third or fourth stage of the disease, when the possibility of cure is very limited.