Natural Ways To Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer.

Posted by Joanna Karpasea-Jones Jan 4, 2009

I would never have a mammogram to 'check' whether or not I may be suffering from cancer. Why, I hear you ask? Surely they save lives? Well, for an start, they have an alarmingly high failure rate. According to Dr. Samuel Epstein, in his book, 'The Politics of Cancer', one in every four breast cancers is 'missed' or failed to be diagnosed in a routine mammogram.

There's also the radiation issue, and everyone knows that radiation can cause cancer so it may be that a perfectly healthy woman who has routine mammograms may actually trigger an episode of cancer through her repeated exposure to radiation. Dr. Russell Blaylock, a surgeon, has suggested that annual mammograms actually cause a 2% increase in breast cancer (for information on Dr. Blaylock and his resume, see http://www.russellblaylockmd.com/.

So, what can be done instead?

• According to the British Medical Journal, a woman's risk of breast cancer is reduced by 7% for each baby she has, so giving birth, and preferably to several children, is nature's tonic! It makes me glad I've had 5 children and may even be a reason why breast cancer rates are increasing - because the number of children women have are decreasing.
• Furthermore, breast feeding your baby instead of formula feeding, could save your life. The same study indicated that for every 12 months a woman breast feeds, she cuts her breast cancer risk by another 4.3%. The World Health Organization recommend breast feeding for a MIMIMUM of two years to protect your child's health, so if you decided to follow their guidelines, you would be cutting your breast cancer risk by another 8.6%. I breast fed my youngest daughter for 3 years and 7 months and am still breast feeding my 19 month old son, so that would have cut my cancer risk by more than 20%.
• The study said that if every woman breast fed for child for at least 6 months, then it would prevent 1000 cases of breast cancer a year! Amazing, don't you think? (BMJ. 2002 July 27; 325(7357): 184).
• Reducing your consumption of red meat and eating more vegetables can also reduce cancer. According to a study in The International Journal of Cancer, life-long vegetarians were found to have a 'slight reduction' in the odds of developing breast cancer - researchers speculated that it may be because they ate higher quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables. ( International Journal of Cancer (Vol. 99: 238-244).
• Another study found that regularly eating soy as children, protected girls from breast cancer when they became women. These women had a 58% less risk of developing cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute in the USA.
• According to the book, Dressed To Kill, by Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer, ISCD Press, 1995, wearing a tight fitting or under-wired bra can contribute to the development of breast cancer, as 'The lymphatic vessels are extremely thin and small, and have no pump, such as the heart, to propel its contents forward. As a result, lymphatic vessels are easily constricted by external pressure, such as that applied to the breast tissue constantly by the brassiere.' Go without a bra as much as possible or wear a soft sleep bra.
• Don't take up smoking and if you have, quit.
• Reduce your intake of alcohol.
• Avoid deodorants with aluminium in them, as studies have shown that aluminium applied under the arms may cause breast cancer, (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4587-deodorants-plus-shaving-linked-to-breast-cancer.html).