The Biopsychosocial Perspective Of Breast Cancer.For The

The Biopsychosocial Perspective of Breast Cancer For the majority of time, the biomedical model has been the main focus on many health factors and diseases, including cancer. Recently, psychologists have been able to prove the psychological and social components of disease. This has forced Doctors, who once relied solely on the biological factors of disease to take a more holistic approach. To help demonstrate the biopsychosocial model of cancer, I will be focusing on breast cancer and it’s risk factors. I will be discussing the effects of race/ethnicity, stress, and genetic factors on the occurrence and recovery of people who suffer from breast cancer. Stress has long been perceived as a social factor that contributes to†¦show more content†¦In Summation, there were 373,563 women identified to meet the criteria of invasive breast cancer and used in the study that consisted of 268,675 non-Hispanic white; 34928, Hispanic white; 38751, black; 25211, Asian; and 5998, oth er ethnicities (Iqbal, Ginsburg Rochon, 2015). The results of the study concluded that black women were more likely to be diagnosed beyond stage I and to die from cancer during the time period of the study when compared with non-Hispanic white and Asian Women. Socioeconomic status, access to health care and adherence to cancer treatment all played significant roles in the survival rates in patients (Iqbal, Ginsburg Rochon, 2015). Hispanic women tended to be diagnosed after stage I due to lack of cancer awareness among the ethnicity. Dietary factors associated with ethnicity also seemed to play a role in the less aggressive breast cancers and higher host response exhibited in Asian women. Statistically Hispanic white populations eat a diet much richer in fats and sugars than those of Asian descent. This has proved detrimental in the survival rates of breast cancer, as a body mass index of 40 or higher, was associated with an increased risk of mortality in Hispanic breast cancer suf ferers (Iqbal, Ginsburg Rochon, 2015). While there are several biological factors that have the ability to lead to cancer, genetics is the most currently researched. A study done by Bharaj, Scorilas, Giai and