HAVING your first child after 30, or not having children at all, could almost triple your chances of developing breast cancer, new research reveals.
Scientists found that women who delay motherhood face a much higher risk, especially if they also gain weight in adulthood.
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The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, in Span, looked at 48,417 women with an average age of 57.
Most had a body mass index (BMI) around 26, which is classed as overweight.
Scientists from the University of Manchester split the women into groups based on whether they had their first baby before 30, after 30, or never had children.
They also looked at how much weight each woman had gained since the age of 20.
Read more on breast cancer
This was worked out by asking them to recall their weight at 20 and comparing it to their current weight.
The women were then tracked for an average of 6.4 years. During that time, 1,702 of them were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK, affecting one in seven women, according to Cancer Research UK.
Each year, around 56,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer – and that figure jumps to about 300,000 in the US.
Around 85 per cent of women survive at least five years after being diagnosed.
The findings showed that women who gained over 30 per cent of their body weight in adulthood and had their first child after 30 – or never had children – were 2.73 times more likely to develop breast cancer.
In comparison, women who had a child before 30 and gained less than 5 per cent of their body weight had a much lower risk.
Lead researcher Lee Malcomson said these two factors – weight gain and delayed childbirth – appear to work together to increase the danger.
“More information about how age of motherhood and weight gain affects the risk of breast cancer would allow us to better work out who is most at risk of the disease and target lifestyle advice accordingly,” he explained.
Previous studies have already shown that having children earlier in life can help protect against breast cancer after menopause.
Gaining weight, on the other hand, is known to increase the risk.
This study is the first to show how these two factors interact and that the benefits of early childbirth don’t cancel out the risks of putting on a lot of weight later.
Our study is the first to establish how weight gain and age of first birth interact to affect a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
Lee added: “It is vital that GPs are aware that the combination of gaining a significant amount of weight and having a late first birth – or, indeed, not having children – greatly increases a woman’s risk of the disease.”
How to check your breasts
It is important to regularly check your breasts for any changes.
Breast tissue reaches all the way up to your collarbone and across to your armpit, so it’s vital to check these areas too.
If you feel or see any changes in your breast you should always consult your GP.
Charity CoppaFeel! recommends checking your breasts monthly, so you can pick up on any changes quickly.
Breasts do change naturally as part of your monthly menstrual cycle, so you should get to know your breasts, how they feel and what changes they usually go through to know if anything is out of the ordinary.
Five-step check
There is a five-step self exam you can do at home to check for any changes.
Step one: Begin by looking in a mirror, facing it with your arms on your hips and your shoulders straight. You should be looking for any dimpling, puckering, bulging skin, redness, soreness, a rash or changes in the nipple.
Step two: Still looking in the mirror, raise both arms above your head and check for the same changes.
Step three: With your arms still above your head, check for any fluid coming from the nipples. This can include milky, yellow or watery fluid, or blood.
Step four: While lying down use your opposite hand to check each breast.
Using a few fingers, keeping them flat and together, go in a small circular motion around your breasts.
Make sure you feel the entire breast by going top to bottom in these small circles.
It helps to develop a system or pattern to make sure every inch is covered.
Use light pressure for the skin and tissue just beneath, medium pressure for the tissue in the middle of your breasts, and firm pressure to feel the tissue at the back, feeling down to your ribcage.
Step five: Feel your breasts while either standing or sitting, using the same small circular motions.