Life's Delicate Balance
Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer
by Janette D. Sherman, M.D.

Excerpts from Chapter 3
Risks for Breast Cancer
 We are all at Risk

"When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic,
hold hands and stick together." 
--Robert Fulghum

 The popular and scientific press each make much of a woman's for developing breast cancer. What do these risks imply and are they really risks? Traditionally mentioned risks, including "lifestyle" factors, are implicated in perhaps 30 percent of breast cancers. The risks are listed below, in no particular order. These include:

A. History of breast cancer in mother or sister
B. Early onset of menarche
C. Late onset of menopause
D. Never pregnant, or first full-term pregnancy after age 30
E. Not breast feeding an infant
F. Obesity and/or high fat diet
G. Tallness
H. Oral contraceptive use, especially when young 
I. Personal history of fibrocystic disease
J. Personal history of ovarian or endometrial cancer.
K. Excessive alcohol consumption

Language can deceive. We have been led to believe that risk is the same as cause. Risk is not a cause of illness. Risk is a result of exposure to a hazard, as in the formula: 

HAZARD + EXPOSURE = RISK