October is a month that not only celebrates the scary and the wicked of All Hallows Eve, but it also is a month of awareness for a number of things. One being breast cancer.

For those who do not fully know what cancer is, it is a disease that is caused by the division of abnormal cells in a certain part of the body; these cells do not just grow tumors or little lumps and bumps on or in the body, they are also destructive to the parts of the body that are supposed to be good. In the United States, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer; that is in the United States' 220 million population, 307,660 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, of those women 264,660 will be reported to have invasive cancer, meaning the destructive cells have moved past the breast and throughout or to a new part of the body, and 61,000 will report noninvasive cancer. And about 2,600 men will be diagnosed, too (yes, men can get breast cancer, too). All of these people will be diagnosed within the year 2016.

For women, the causes of breast cancer vary from, well, just being a woman to being exposed to radiation to your genetic code. According to cancer.org, the website for the American Cancer Society, being a woman puts you at risk of having breast cancer due to your body carrying the cells and the glands and the tissue that make up your breasts. When you get older, around the age of 55, is another risk - unless you were diagnosed with having cancer cells in one breast when you were at a younger age than 55. If this is the case, your chances of having the cancer come back or appear in the other breast becomes higher. While your personal history may have something to do with a development with this cancer, so can your family history. As stated before, the cancer cells can develop due to your genes - which are given to you by your family members. While the website states that "about five% to ten% of breast cancers are thought to be hereditary", please make sure that you get checked out when the time is right for you. The site gives a list of gene names that may also be carried and can change over time. There are genetic tests that you can take to see if you carry these genes, however it should be noted, like the site says, "most women who have one or more breast cancer factors may never develop the disease and some who don't have any factors (aside from having breasts in the first place) develop the disease." There is no true way of knowing what triggers the cancerous cells into developing.

For men to develop breast cancer, some of the factors are the same as women. If a man has a very close female relative who is diagnosed with breast cancer, again, it is a family member who has shared her genetic code with him, by the age of 60 or 70, he may be diagnosed with breast cancer. As rare as it is for men to be diagnosed, it does happen. Men who have also been exposed to radiation in the chest and breast areas overtime may develop the disease. If a man has been diagnosed with a testicular disease before hand or is he has encountered the disease gynecomastia, which is a disease that enlarges the breasts, then he has the possibility of developing the disease. If for some reason, a man has taken any estrogen pills, he may also be a candidate for a patient.

Aside from scientific and anatomic factors, there are also lifestyle factors that put women at risk of developing this form of cancer - as well for other types of cancer. A woman who consumes more alcohol on a daily schedule, as in having two or five drinks a day, is at risk of breast cancer. I know that some women have or are taking birth control and there are others who take hormone therapy pills during menopause and these are also risks of breast cancer because there are hormones being brought into the body.

So why is October breast cancer awareness month? Why do you see pink ribbons almost everywhere during this month? Well, pink is the color for breast cancer just like how purple is for pancreatic cancer and red is for AIDS. These colors are worn and shown around town, the community, the state and the nation, to remind people that these diseases have not been cured yet and there are families struggling mentally, physically and financially to support the ones they love during the tough times and to remember the ones who were lost to the disease behind the pink ribbons.

For this month, I think it would be cool if we all wore our pink ribbons, shirts, shorts, pants, socks, gloves and hats and/or whatever else you want proudly. Lets fight and stop the disease together. If you wish to help with this cause, aside from wearing pink, you can go to cancer.org to donate or join an event.