It would be misleading to suggest that cancer of any form can be prevented. Perhaps in years to come, research will come up with a way of doing so, but there are certain steps that can be taken to reduce your risk.

With Breast Cancer Awareness month almost upon us, it would be useful for everyone – it affects men too – to make the necessary changes to avoid this disease.

1. Avoid alcohol: Alcohol is known to increase the risk of breast cancer, so avoid.

2. Maintain a healthy weight: Obesity becomes more of a risk factor in women after the menopause, a time when controlling weight can also be a problem. The sooner you take control of your weight the better and the easier it will be later on in life. A BMI of less than 25 is desirable.

3. Stay active: At least a brisk walk for 30 minutes five times a week is the recommended amount of exercise to obtain the protective effect. Even if you start later on in life, it could reduce your risk by anything up to 30 per cent.

4. Follow a healthy diet: All the usual advice of a diet high in vegetables, lean protein, fruit and wholegrain foods, low in saturated fats and sugars works for avoiding breast cancer too.

5. Don’t smoke: Research suggests that long term smoking in women can increase the risk of breast cancer.

6. Breast feed: Studies have shown that women who breast feed for at least a year in total have a reduced risk of breast cancer.

7. Avoid HRT: Menopausal hormone therapy has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer. If you must take hormones to manage menopausal symptoms, avoid progesterone and limit their use to less than three years. Any kind of hormone “manipulation” including hormonal creams and gels are no safer than prescription hormones: please avoid. If you follow at least the first five suggestions in this lease, the chances are that the menopause won’t cause all of those troublesome symptoms anyway.

8. Reduce stress: It will damage your immune system which means that your body will be unable to protect you against disease.

Self-examination: This is really the message the Safe & Sound campaign is all about. Start to regularly check your breasts for changes in the way they look or feel such as lumps, dimpling, discharge from the nipples or inversion, size, asymmetry, tenderness/pain. Men should also look out for these early warning signs.

If you are in any doubt, please ask your doctor to check. After the age of 40 it is a good idea to have a mammogram at least every other year. Although this won’t prevent cancer, it will help catch it early. Some statistics show that if caught early enough, there is a survival rate as high as 98 per cent.