Breast Cancer

June 10, 2004

Breast Health

Breast Cancer

One of the hardest things for me to do as a physician

is look into the face of a woman who has just been diagnosed with

breast cancer, a disease so malicious that it not only attacks the

physical body but it rips at a woman’s identity, her sense of self,

and her sense of beauty. I am often taken aback by the terror that

these two words can bring. And then, there are the women who tell

me of a sister or mother or friend who has been diagnosed or who

have found an unfamiliar lump and I see the unspoken question in

her eyes, “Am I next?” As a doctor and a woman, I want

to give you the information you need to no longer be afraid—to

feel in control of every aspect of your body.

The incidence of breast cancer has increased dramatically over the

past two decades. During the 1950’s, it was estimated that one out

of every twenty Americans would develop this disease. These estimates

have been revised many times over the last 40 years as the incidence

of breast cancer has skyrocketed. It is currently estimated that

one out of every eight women will develop breast cancer during her

lifetime. This is a staggering number, placing breast cancer as

the most common cancer of American women today—second only

to lung cancer in its mortality rates.

Breast cancer tissues, like other malignancies, invade and destroy

normal tissue (unlike benign tumors, which remain confined in a

specific area). Breast cancer cells first grow within the breast

tissue itself. In the later stages of the disease, the cancerous

cells spread to other parts of the body near or adjacent to the

breasts (as with invasion to the lymph nodes). The cancer cells

can also invade distant sites, like the liver and the bones.

Research has shown that nearly 70 percent of all breast cancers

are estrogen-receptive, meaning that they feed off of estrogen.

In fact, epidemiological data suggests that the incidence of breast

cancer is highest in those women who have higher blood estrogen

levels. That’s why so much of the effort surrounding prevention

of breast cancer has been centered on either decreasing the amount

of estrogen in the body or blocking its activity.

Therefore, detoxification (the process of neutralizing or transforming

substances that would normally be poisonous or harmful and eliminating

them from your body) is one of your most crucial physiological functions

for preventing and even treating breast cancer. Without proper detoxification,

toxic substances would accumulate within your body and impair your

health by interfering with the function of all your vital organ

systems.

The liver, your primary organ of detoxification, is the main interface

between both ingested and internally-created toxins and all the

cells of your body. If liver function is impaired, estrogen will

not be efficiently metabolized and excreted from your body, leading

to elevated levels of estrogen, which in turn can lead to breast

cancer.

Read More on Breast Health:

Getting Started

Breast Cancer

Risk Factors for Breast Cancer

Fibrocystic Disease

Keep it SIMPLE tip — Exercise Lowers Breast Cancer

Risk

Nutritional Therapies

Change your Lifestyle

Caffeine: Friend or Foe

Soy Controversy

Complementary Therapies

Primavera Recipe

Oxygen Therapy and Oxidants