An update on what's been happening in the past five years that's of interest to women dancing with breast cancer, from the articles I've saved (I read nearly one hundred magazines a month, ranging from scientific re-caps to the popular and alternative presses): The trends, first summarized, then itemized with references, and - here and there - helpful hints to help your health the Wise Woman Way.
BREAST HEALTH SUMMARY
Screening mammograms, especially for women under 50, continue to draw heavy criticism. Former head of mammography services in the UK says: "To promote mammography to women under the age of 50 is absolutely unethical." Screening mammograms, along with the biopsies and treatments they engender, may actually be triggering aggressive breast cancers in asymptomatic women, not "finding it early," as we have been told. Wise women say "no" to mammograms and focus on breast health.
Lifestyle choices are more important than ever in keeping breasts healthy. Exercise plus a diet (not pills) rich in antioxidants and low in refined carbohydrates, continues to top the list. Mounting evidence of the adverse effects of wearing bras, not breastfeeding, and being exposed to light at night gives us new incentives to increase our consumption of green tea, iodine-rich kelp seaweeds, and the Wise Woman's favorite: nourishing herbal infusions.
New studies connect frequent antibiotic use with a doubling of breast cancer risk, but frequent use of aspirin with a lowering of breast cancer risk. Researchers found high concentrations of deodorant and cosmetic preservatives in breast tumors, plus evidence that deodorant use combined with underarm shaving can increase the risk of breast cancer. I believe that inflammation may, like radiation, heat up dormant cancers and get them going.
New ways of treating tumors and of testing continue to appear, while the best of the best of complementary medicine for those dancing with cancer continues to gather widespread praise.
