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smoking and reduce your alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption does increase the risk of breast cancer. Breastfeeding your children reduces the risk of breast cancer.” Knowledge of
while breastfeeding you are not ovulating. Your ovaries are in a
your family medical history is a key component in early detection which is key to survival stated Brabham-Orr, “If you know your family history, then your primary care physician can better manage your health. For instance, I have a history of breast and ovarian cancer in my family. My insurance pays for me to get a mammogram twice a year and I can get an ultrasound done on my breasts if need be. If your doctors don’t know that you have a history of these things, they don’t know to put these tools in place so they can watch you closely and manage your health differently instead of advising you according to regular protocol.” According to Brabham-Orr, there are no major racial disparities when it comes to diagnosing and the survival rate of ovarian cancer. The cancer is aggressive, and the survival rate is low; in addition, she said it is a cancer that is difficult to detect, “There is no exam. You get a mammogram for breast cancer. The breast is an organ outside of your body that you can feel. By the time you realize there’s an issue in your stomach like bloating, you have a full-blown tumor and when it’s that big you already are in an advanced stage.” Ovarian cancer symptoms such as bloating, nausea and lower back pain are all signs of several far less severe health issues. Brabham-Orr cautions that if these symptoms persist do not dismiss them. “I always tell people if you have all these symptoms more than two weeks you need to go and have your your doctor go ahead and rule ovarian cancer out. Have a biopsy done. That’s the best thing because there is no test for ovarian cancer. There is no exam. So that’s why the survival rate for ovarian cancer is low,” said Brabham-Orr. Although the detection of ovarian cancer is difficult, a healthy diet, exercise, not smoking and limited alcohol consumption lessens the likelihood of a diagnosis. “I’m a big advocate for breastfeeding because
resting state. It gives your ovaries an opportunity for cell repair to take place,” said Brabham-Orr. Pregnancy is another stage that pauses ovulation and allows a woman’s ovaries to rest and can lessen the likelihood of developing ovarian cancer. Brabham- Orr says that the more children a woman has the more the risk of ovarian cancer is reduced. She also shared that having children before the age of 32 is even more impactful. Brabham-Orr’s research and expertise in the fields of breast and ovarian cancer along with her passion to educate others about the disease has expanded her career beyond the lab. She has fielded speaking engagements domestically, as well as in Dubai and Paris under the umbrella of her own company, Colletta Orr & Associates. “The core value of my business is to teach people about awareness, about understanding breast and ovarian cancer and how it’s genetically linked,” said Brabham-Orr. She works as a consultant to hospitals, “I create programs for hospitals to be able to teach survivors once they have finished treatment how to live life after cancer treatment and how to figure out what their new normal looks like.” Brabham-Orr has been featured in media reports including the Huffington Post. Her research findings have been published in the “American Association for Cancer Research”, and she is the author of “Cancer Doesn’t Always Win: A Comprehensive Guide to Beating Breast & Ovarian Cancer.” Brabham-Orr stated about her book, “It’s a very easy read. It’s simple facts but it’s thorough about how you can live.” The book is available on her company’s website at www.CollettaOrr.com, at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and on iTunes. Thus far, the book has been purchased as widely as markets in Europe.
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