Photo: Getty Images Breast cancer is a complex and often confusing disease. It isn't clear what causes normal cells to grow out of control and multiply.¹ Researchers do know that certain hormonal, genetic, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors increase the likelihood of breast cancer. But it's also true that people …
Read More »What Doctors Thought Was Just This Woman's Reaction to the COVID Vaccine Turned Out to Be Breast Cancer
This article is part of Health's series, Misdiagnosed, featuring stories from real women who have had their medical symptoms dismissed or wrongly diagnosed. I was on the elementary school playground in May 2021 working as a substitute teacher when I got the news: I had breast cancer. It was a lifesaving phone call …
Read More »What Doctors Thought Was Just This Woman's Reaction to the COVID Vaccine Turned Out to Be Breast Cancer
This article is part of Health's series, Misdiagnosed, featuring stories from real women who have had their medical symptoms dismissed or wrongly diagnosed. I was on the elementary school playground in May 2021 working as a substitute teacher when I got the news: I had breast cancer. It was a lifesaving phone call …
Read More »What Is Dense Breast Tissue, and How Does It Relate to Breast Cancer?
While getting a mammogram is a good way to detect the possibility of breast cancer, it can also detect something else: dense breast tissue. In fact, dense breast tissue is a finding exclusive to a mammogram, wherein certain parts of the breast appear light gray or white, making it harder …
Read More »What Is Dense Breast Tissue, and How Does It Relate to Breast Cancer?
While getting a mammogram is a good way to detect the possibility of breast cancer, it can also detect something else: dense breast tissue. In fact, dense breast tissue is a finding exclusive to a mammogram, wherein certain parts of the breast appear light gray or white, making it harder …
Read More »What Is Dense Breast Tissue, and How Does It Relate to Breast Cancer?
While getting a mammogram is a good way to detect the possibility of breast cancer, it can also detect something else: dense breast tissue. In fact, dense breast tissue is a finding exclusive to a mammogram, wherein certain parts of the breast appear brighter than others in the resultant x-ray …
Read More »BRCA1 vs. BRCA2: What to Know About These Gene Mutations and Breast Cancer
Each year, millions of people are diagnosed with cancer, a disease in which cells begin to grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Many of these cancers are hereditary, which means they're in part caused by a genetic predisposition that runs in a person's family. For example, …
Read More »BRCA1 vs. BRCA2: What to Know About These Gene Mutations and Breast Cancer
Each year, millions of people are diagnosed with cancer, a disease in which cells begin to grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Many of these cancers are hereditary, which means they're in part caused by a genetic predisposition that runs in a person's family. For example, according to the Centers …
Read More »I Discovered My Own Breast Cancer During the Pandemic—And the Trauma of a Double Mastectomy Left Me With PTSD
The water is frigid. I have fallen through the ice and am gasping for air. Am I drowning? Will I be able to find the hole in the surface of the frozen pond? I wake up in a deep sweat. Another dream, the same dream. I always wake up before …
Read More »I Discovered My Own Breast Cancer During the Pandemic—And the Trauma of a Double Mastectomy Left Me With PTSD
The water is frigid. I have fallen through the ice and am gasping for air. Am I drowning? Will I be able to find the hole in the surface of the frozen pond? I wake up in a deep sweat. Another dream, the same dream. I always wake up before …
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