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Cancer has been defined by Oxford languages as a malignant growth or tumor resulting from an uncontrolled division of cells.
Breast cancer is thus a cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts.Breast cancer is more prevalent in women and occurs only very rarely in men.Breast cancer is known to be the most common and invasive type of cancer in females. It is also recorded to be the leading cause of deaths from cancer.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and about 685 000 deaths occurred from breast cancer globally.
Historically, breast cancer was low in Nigeria, but we have experienced an increase as a result of lifestyle changes as well as urbanization. Currently approximately 18% of deaths in the country are attributed to breast cancer.

The American Cancer Society stated that the most common types of breast cancer are:

Ductal Carcinoma in situ (DCIS) , Invasive Breast Cancer (IDC/ILC), Triple-negative Breast Cancer, Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC), Paget disease of the Breast, Angiosarcoma of the Breast and Phyllodes Tumor.

There are four known stages of breast cancer. Stages one to four being the most common stages. Stage zero is sometimes used to describe cancer that still is localized to the area In which it started hence they are easily treatable. They are even considered precancerous by some healthcare providers.

The most common symptoms of breast cancer includes;

A lump in the breast, abnormal nipple discharge,
changes in the shape or texture of the nipple or breast, discomfort in the breast, redness of skin around the breast.

While the risk factors include;

Genetic mutations, incressing age, having dense breasts, personal history of breast cancer or certain non-cancerous breast diseases, family history of breast or ovarian cancer, previous treatment using radiation therapy.

Other risk factors include;

Not being physically active, being overweight or having obesity after menopause, taking hormones or certain oral contraceptives (birth control pills), reproductive history (Having the first pregnancy after age 30, not breastfeeding, and never having a full-term pregnancy), harmful use of alcohol, smoking, female gender is the strongest breast cancer risk factor.

There are many reasons for lumps to develop in the breast, most of which are not cancer.

Often, the most common first detectable site of spread is to the lymph nodes under the arm although it is possible to have cancer-bearing lymph nodes that cannot be felt.

#BreastCancer
#SymptomsandRiskFactors
#BreastCancerAwarenessMonth
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#RISEforBCAM
#MondayHealthBurst

The United Nations defined gender stereotype as a preconception about attributes or characteristics, or the roles that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by, women and men. A gender stereotype is harmful when it limits women’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and/or make choices about their lives.

Example includes exposure to higher rates of sexual assault, gender-based violence, not criminalizing marital rape, sexualizing women, believing that victims of sexual violence agreed to sexual acts, lower rates on education, employment, inclusion in leadership et al.

A Medical News Today’s article reviewed in June 2021, reported that studies have shown a link between experiencing discrimination and mental health symptoms. Sexism also exposes people to many risk factors of mental health conditions, including chronic stress, negative self-image, and trauma. Furthermore, exposure to socioeconomic inequality and harmful messages in the media can lead to women developing mental conditions.

Other psychological effects of gender stereotyping include depression, anxiety, insomnia, anger, sadness, post-traumatic stress disorder and more.

In anticipation of the World Mental Health Day 2022, the Centre for Family Health Initiative enjoins all to learn, speak up and always condemn gender stereotyping.

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of CFHI to address issues around gender-based violence and gender bias.

• #SpeakWednesday #Genderstereotype #Genderrights #Genderequality #mentalhealth

Climate change, together with other natural and human-made health stressors, influences human health in numerous ways, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the World Health Organization, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.

Health is already being impacted by climate change in a variety of ways, including the increased frequency of extreme weather events like heat-waves, storms, and floods, the disruption of food systems, an increase in zoonosis, food-water diseases vector-borne diseases, and mental health problems.
Furthermore, many of the social factors that contribute to good health, such as employment opportunities, equality, access to medical treatment, and social support networks, are being undermined by climate change.
Women, children, ethnic minorities, poor communities, migrants or displaced people, elderly populations, and individuals with underlying health issues are among the most at risk and disadvantaged groups who experience a disproportionate amount of these climate-sensitive health concerns.

According to Common Wealth Fund in the article “The Impact of Climate Change on Our Health and Health Systems”, accessed on 26 September,2022, Since 2008, weather-related incidents have caused an average of more than 20 million people to relocate worldwide. Compared to the consequences on physical health, the effects of such stress and loss on mental health are more difficult to measure. However, they are still very severe.

The greatest threat to human health is climate change but reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy-use choices can result in improved health.

#MondayHealthBurst #ClimateChange #CDC #Palladium #VillageReach #PreservationofOzoneLayer

The ozone layer is a region of the upper atmosphere located between 15 and 35km above earth’s surface. Its function is to absorb high-energy Ultraviolet (UV) Ray’s from the sun preventing them from reaching the earth’s surface.

Over exposure to UV radiation is considered to be a health risk, causing skin and eye damage, as well as having adverse effects on the immune system. Amongst the effects resulting from exposure to Ultraviolet radiation, Melanoma, a lethal human health effect causes over 7100 deaths annually in the United States as reported by Hidaya Aliouche in an article published on News Medical and Health Sciences, accessed 19 September, 2022, <https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-Are-the-Health-Benefits-of-Protecting-the-Ozone-Layer.aspx/>

An international agreement to protect the ozone layer is expected to prevent 443 million cases of skin cancer and 63 million cataract cases for people born in the United States through the end of this century, according to new research by scientists at the National Cancer for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), ICF consulting, and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Furthermore, the European Environmental Agency stated that one of the action required globally to continue the recovery of the ozone layer is to ensure that banks of ozone-depleting substances (both in storage and contained in existing equipment) are dealt with in an environmentally-friendly manner and are replaced with climate-friendly alternatives. European Commission, Protecting the ozone layer, accessed September 19, 2022, <https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/protecting-ozone-layer_en/>

World Ozone Day was established to be marked on September 16 every year to raise awareness of the ozone layer’s depletion.

#HealthBenefits #OzoneLayerProtection #WorldOzoneDay #MondayHealthBurst

Greenhouse effect is the process by which radiations from the sun are absorbed by the greenhouse gases and not reflected back into space. This insulates the surface of the earth and prevents it from freezing.

The greenhouse gases at normal level help the earth to maintain an ambient condition for our survival. However, the anthropogenic action by humans (burning of fossil fuels) has induced the amount of these greenhouse gases thereby resulting in greenhouse effect.

According to Naiyer et al., (2022), the greenhouse effect along with global warming have impacts that are adverse to humans. Short-term exposure impacts can be coped with by humans, but when it is a high long-term concentration exposure, the impact becomes detrimental.

The long-term exposure slowly affects multiple organs such as the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, immune system, digestive system and often the reproductive system.

Increasing the greenhouse effect gives rise to a runaway greenhouse effect which would increase the temperature of the earth to such an extent that no life will exist in the near future https://byjus.com/biology/greenhouse-effect-gases/.

Hence, the need to watch the rate at which fossil fuels are burnt and regular medical checkups for early detection of diseases resulting from exposure to Greenhouse Effects.

Monday Health Burst is an initiative of CFHI to address issues of basic health concern. Join us every Monday on all our social media platforms for more episodes.

#GreenhouseEffect #HumanHealth #Who  #MondayHealthBurst

True, literacy rates have generally appreciated worldwide for both males and females. Still, males are on average more literate than females. In 2020, a little over 83 percent of women in the world were literate, however, about 90 percent of men were literate.

As opposed to the misconception associated with women literacy, Literate women in fact implies that they have the ability to process information that they receive and use it in the improvement of various aspects of their society such as nutrition, health and the education of other members of their households and their society by extension.

Statistics show that Literate women are more likely to send their children, especially their girls, to school. Women who acquire literacy become more resilient economically and are more likely to be involved in the social, political and cultural life of their society and country at large.
The United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking says that Women are most vulnerable to trafficking when they are undereducated and poor. Providing education to women to help them improve life skills is bound to significantly undermine this terrible industry.
When women are provided with equal rights and equal access to education, they go on to engage in economic as well as business activities. This increases the earning power and improves our chances of winning this war against poverty.
Women literacy improves Gross domestic product. Statistics show that when 10 percent more women attend school, GDP increases by three percent on average.
Educating a woman is more than educating an individual, it is educating the world.

Speak Wednesday is an initiative of CFHI to address issues around gender-based violence and gender bias.

#SpeakWednesday #Women’sLiteracy #Women’sRights #GenderStereotype #GenderBias #GenderInequality