Women who don’t breastfeed at risk of cancer — Expert

The Chairperson, Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN) Plateau chapter, Professor Amaka Ocheke, says that women who don’t breastfeed are more susceptible to the risk of getting breast cancer.

Ocheke who is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist with the University of Jos Teaching Hospital (JUTH), said this during a breast cancer awareness walk in Jos.

She further said that other predisposing factors were early commencement of menstruation and early start of menopause, drinking, smoking, consumption of fatty food and family history (genetics).

According to her, early detection “is key for survival, as when it is detected early it is treatable”.

Ocheke, however, noted that most women only came when the disease was in an advanced stage and difficult to manage.

She called on women and girls to inculcate the act of examining their breasts and armpits monthly for abnormalities such as lumps and change in the appearance of the breast skin and nipple as more ladies in their 20s and 30s were coming down with breast cancer.

She called on women ages 40 and above to ensure they go for a yearly mammogram as the act helps to detect tumours in the breast very early.

Similarly, the chairperson of NAWOJ in Plateau, Mrs Nene Dung, said that the walk was salient in creating and rising awareness about breast cancer.

Dung explained that most women “still live in denial as regards breast cancer and such should be discouraged as the denial has led to the death of many women”.