Women who don’t breastfeed may have cancer

The Chairperson, Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN) Plateau chapter, Prof. 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 gynecologist with the University of Jos Teaching Hospital (JUTH), said this during a breast cancer awareness walk in Jos.

The walk was organised in collaboration with the Nigeria Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) on Thursday.

Ocheke 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).

She said that 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 from ages 40 and above to ensure they go for yearly mammogram as the act helps to detect tumors 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”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the walk began from the city centre to old JUTH.