We constantly worry about our children. And for those of us who belong to the group that's at high risk for getting breast cancer, we not only have to worry about our kids' involvement with sex, drugs, and other issues, but also our daughters' breast cancer risk.
I get lots of email from women worried that if their teenager takes the birth control pill, she'll actually be bumping up her risk of a deadly disease.
It's hard enough to realize that your teen is getting older; she may also be making her own decisions about sex, choices over which you have no control (I think it's called "life"). Still, it's tough, and every generation of parents gets its turn to worry about it.
There is at least some good news concerning oral contraceptives, the form of birth control known as the Pill. Studies have shown that taking the Pill for a period of 5 consecutive years is safe and does not raise a teenager's risk of developing breast cancer.
So if you're having the "sex talk" with your daughter - sharing your values with her about what you expect of her and what she should expect of herself - and the conversation turns to birth control, that's one weight off your mind (even though it's a weight that you might not have wanted to be free of just yet).
What happens after 5 years on the Pill? It's recommended that its users take a break for a while, and switch to another reliable method of birth control. Over time, they can resume use of the Pill.
One reason that research has shown that the pill is so safe today is that the hormone in it - which can indeed encourage the growth of breast cancer in those women who are hormone-receptor positive - is delivered in a much smaller dosage now than was the case in the 1960s and '70s, when the Pill was first introduced.
And, as long as you're talking about all this with your children, also consider getting your tweens and teenage daughters vaccinated for the human papillomavirus (HPV-the virus implicated in almost all cases of cervical cancer). This is your opportunity to cover all the bases.
One thing to remember if you and she do elect for her to go on the Pill: She may experience a growth in her breast volume, a normal side effect of the Pill.
This is also an ideal time to teach her how to do a breast self-exam, as well as how to schedule an annual clinical breast exam with her doctor. (Anyone on the Pill, no matter what their age, should be getting this examination annually.)
Of course, the other option to all of this is getting her fitted with a chastity belt, but I haven't seen many of those posted on eBay lately!
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For more about Lillie Shockney:
Avon Foundation Breast Center at Johns Hopkins
