WHY WAS BREAST CANCER KNOWN AS 'NUN'S DISEASE'?
In just the UK alone, around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, but what exactly has that got to do with ‘nun’s disease’?
A few hundred years ago, there was an Italian doctor by the name of Bernardino Ramazzini who discovered that breast cancer was quite common among nuns.
But why is that? According to science – and science is never wrong, it’s due to the nuns lifestyle.
Science suggests that women who tend to reproduce, are at a lower risk than women who do not reproduce. Other sources also suggest that women who breastfeed can also decrease their risk of breast cancer.
‘Cancerresearch.uk’ suggests: Breastfeeding lowers the risk of developing breast cancer, particularly if you have your children when you are younger. The longer you breastfeed the more the risk is reduced.
So when you think about the nun’s lifestyle, you can begin to see how cancer is slightly more prevalent among them.
Either way, checking your breasts should be done regularly. Whether you are in the US, UK or China, you can still do a quick self-check to see if there is anything there that shouldn’t be.
Clicking here should give you a breakdown of what to look for, and what to be wary of when doing a breast check.