If you want to know how to prevent breast cancer, than you need to know what risk factors cause breast cancer.  A risk factor is anything that makes you more likely to get a certain disease. For breast cancer these include your age, your health history and even your genes

Here’s a list of risk factors relating to your age and health that can make you a more likely candidate for breast cancer:

-The older you get the more likely you are to get breast cancer.

-If you had your first period at a younger age this can be a risk factor.

-If you’ve had radiation therapy over your chest area.

-If your breast tissue is dense as show in a mammogram.

-If you’ve never given birth.

-If you were older when you gave birth to your first child.

-If your mother or sister has had breast cancer.

-If you’ve had breast cancer already or had a non-cancerous breast disease.

-If you’ve taken hormones such as estrogren or progesterone.

-If you are Caucasian.

-If you drink alcohol. 

While many people think breast cancer is largely hereditary, in reality only 5% - 10% of all breast cancer cases are genetic.  Genes carry the information about each person that is passed down from parent to child.  If your genes become mutated this can cause hereditary breast cancer.  Your ethnic group can play a role having an altered gene that causes breast cancer.

If you’ve had breast cancer in one breast due to an altered gene, than you’re more likely of developing breast cancer in the second breast.  You will also have a greater risk for ovarian cancer and the possibility of a greater risk of developing other cancers too.  Even men can have an altered gene, which puts them at a greater risk of developing breast cancer.  You can have genetic testing done that can let you know if you have altered genes related to breast cancer.  This is often recommended for someone in a family that has a high risk for cancer.