Breast Cancer Ribbon Template

On first account, a pharmaceutical "cure" is as unlikely as it is oxymoronic. Drugs do not cure disease anymore than bullets cure war. Breast Cancer Ribbon Template Beneath modern medicine's showy display of diagnostic contraptions, heroic "life-saving" procedures, and an armory of exotic drugs of strange origin and power, it is always the body's ability to heal itself - beneath the pomp and circumstance - that is truly responsible for medicine's apparent successes. Too often, in spite of what medicine does to "treat" or "save" the body, it is the body which against invasive chemical and surgical medical interventions, silently treats and saves itself.

Soy and Cancer - Does it Actually Fight Against Breast Cancer

Are there any soy and cancer dangers? We may have thought about this question before. We all know how important eating protein is to our diet and health. Many people are turning to this type of protein. Is it safe for us? In this article, I will be sharing some very important information on this protein option.

Studies have been found to show that all soy products have been repeatedly shown to reduce the risk of women developing breast cancer. Although, there are contradicting view points on this, if in fact risks are reduced.

These type of products are full of essential nutrients that are beneficial for our bodies. They are high in protein and essential fatty acids. Vitamin and mineral content is also high. It also is the only food to contain isoflavones.

The thing with isoflavones is that they are very similar to the female sexual hormone, estrogen. This is called phytoestrogen. If the level of these phytoestrogen is high they can cause breast cancer. These will prevent them from functioning with the breast cells. Therefore, cancer risks are lower. So, make sure you eat foods such like tofu and also miso soup. Also, a good idea is to start eating such foods right after developing puberty. The estrogen levels are higher at this time.

Although, women who already have cancer, will not be able to benefit from these products and may even react negatively to them. You should consume these foods in moderation.

Studies have been shown recently that any dangers were not conclusive. Also, it was revealed these food items could actually reduce the chance of women to have a recurrence of cancer. In 2,000 women studied, and consumption of these foods, reduced 60% risk of recurrences. Women who only had 10 grams of this protein per day, had reduced risk and mortality rate by 30%.

The studies show there isn't much of a risk associated with consuming soy products and from women developing breast cancer and also experiencing any form of cancer from coming back.

The majority of health care professionals say that eating a very healthy diet consisting of these products is very important. Equally important is to make sure you include fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains. You want to make sure you look for products which use non-genetically modified crops in their production. This is because the public is very much concerned with modified foods.

Nine ways to reduce risk of breast cancer

Mutation in the gene BRCA1 or BRCA2, or excessive levels of estrogen in the body, nutrition, obesity, alcohol consumption and smoking are risk factors for breast cancer. While there is almost no way to change the inherited gene mutation, which is in our power to control other factors and protect our breasts.

Maintain a healthy weight

A recent study by the American Cancer Society for more than 62,000 women found that women gain more weight after the age18, the greater their risk of breast cancer diagnosed during menopause. Extra pounds increase the production of estrogen, which can fuel cancer growth. Moreover, even if you are serious regular exercise reduces the risk considerably.

"Physical activity is thought to reduce the amount of estrogen in the body, making breast cancer," said Dr. Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of Breast Cancer Gynecology and the American Cancer Society. So get moving. A lively30 minute walk five days a week may reduce the risk of breast cancer by 18 percent, according to a study of more than 74,000 women aged 50-79.

Eating good fats

High levels of polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat on breast cancer in combination were put in place so limited these fats in the diet. Choose most fats like olive oil and rapeseed oil, monounsaturated oils. A study conducted in Sweden more than 61,000 women aged 40-76 showed that the consumption of an additional 10 grams of monounsaturated fatty acidsreduces the risk of breast cancer by about 45 percent. On the other hand, the study also showed that every additional 5 grams of unsaturated fatty acids consumed, the risk of breast cancer increased by 69 percent. rates of breast cancer among women in Spain, Greece, Italy and low, and the fact that people use in these countries, olive oil as the main source of fat is certainly a factor in this result.

Eating fruits and vegetables

Carotenoids are powerful antioxidants that protectagainst cancer, and these are in a variety of fruits and vegetables. Researchers at New York University compared blood samples from 270 women who later developed breast cancer samples from 270 women who were not taken. They found that women had the lowest carotenoid found double the risk of breast cancer than those with the highest levels. Try, five minutes before eating nine servings (½ cup) per day of fruits and vegetables, especially carrots, tomatoes,Watermelon and spinach.

Add flaxseed to your diet

These seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids to support cardiovascular health and reduce the risk for all cancers. Flaxseed also contains high levels of a substance called lignans that may reduce the activity of estrogen in the body. Studies in rats indicate that lignans actually shrink breast cancers. To eat, sprinkle flax seed corn fifty-two tablespoons of ground flaxseed on the supplement, smoothies, or use linseed oilin salad dressing.

Learn how soy

Women in Asia have one-fifth the rate of breast cancer in Western women. Scientists believe the reason is their diet rich in soy. A Japanese study showed that women who ate less or more than three bowls of miso soup (fermented soybeans), reducing the risk by 50 percent compared to those who had. Soy products contain phytoestrogens, compounds that weak forms of estrogen and may protect against breast cancer. Add 01:59portion per day of soy foods to your diet - a cup of soy milk, half cup of tofu, tempeh or soy nuts.

Limiting alcohol consumption is

Alcohol intake is linked to a higher level of estrogen, which fuels the cancer. It is recommended that if you drink alcohol occasionally, take a daily 400 micrograms of folic acid (the amount in most multivitamins). A study by the Mayo Clinic showed that women with the lowest folate (folic acid found in fruits and vegetables), taking also drank a small amountThe alcohol a day - less than half a drink - had a 59 percent increased risk of breast cancer, but a high intake of folic acid increased the risk in moderate drinkers. How folate reduces the risk is unclear, but experts agree, is not enough for most Americans.

Stop smoking

Studies show that younger women when they start smoking, the greater the risk of developing breast cancer before menopause. Other studies suggest that women with a familycan increase the history of breast cancer and ovarian cancer risk if his smoking. Even smokers and ex who develop breast cancer are twice as likely to be an aggressive form of the disease, do not get the estrogen-dependent. Similar risks apply to second hand smoke.

Limit the use of antibiotics

New evidence that the more often you take antibiotics, the higher the risk of breast cancer. A study of more than 10,000 women showed that the risk of breast cancer is doubled amongthose who had antibiotics for more than 500 days cumulatively (the equivalent of about 25 recipes), averaged 17 years compared to women who have never taken antibiotics. Researchers warn, however, other factors such as underlying disease, the immune system, hormonal imbalance or weak, could explain the increased risk.

Choose to breastfeed

It is not only good for your child, but also suppresses ovulation and lactation in the production of estrogen. ResearcherComparison of birth rates and practices within developed countries among women with women in developing countries in Asia and Africa, and found that the risk of breast cancer in developed countries could be cut in half, if the many women had children and all children breast fed for an average of 30 months for children than women in developing countries. Breastfeeding alone the risk by two thirds. They also found that for each year of breastfeeding, a woman, your risk of breast cancer was reduced by 4Percent.

Source:
American Breast Cancer Association
The Mayo Clinic

Prevention As "Watchful Waiting" and Other Breast Cancer Industry Absurdities

Breast Cancer Awareness Month,* sadly, has become a time of increasing awareness not of the preventable causes of breast cancer, but of the breast cancer industry's insatiable need to both raise money for research into a pharmaceutical cure, and to promote its primary means of "prevention": early detection via x-ray mammography.

On first account, a pharmaceutical "cure" is as unlikely as it is oxymoronic. Drugs do not cure disease anymore than bullets cure war. Beneath modern medicine's showy display of diagnostic contraptions, heroic "life-saving" procedures, and an armory of exotic drugs of strange origin and power, it is always the body's ability to heal itself - beneath the pomp and circumstance - that is truly responsible for medicine's apparent successes. Too often, in spite of what medicine does to "treat" or "save" the body, it is the body which against invasive chemical and surgical medical interventions, silently treats and saves itself.

If it were not for the body's truly miraculous self-healing abilities, and the ceaseless self-correction process that occurs each and every moment within each and every cell in our bodies, it would die within a matter of hours. The mystery is not in how our body succumbs to cancer; rather the mystery is in how, after years and even decades of chemical exposure and nutrient deprivation our bodies prevail against cancer for so long.

The primary causes of breast cancer: nutritional deficiencies, exposure to environmental toxicity, inflammation, estrogen dominance and the resultant breakdown in genetic integrity and immune surveillance, are entirely overlooked by this fixation on drug therapy and its would-be "magic bullets."

Billions of dollars are raised and funneled towards drug research, when the lowly turmeric plant, the humble cabbage and the unassuming bowl of miso soup may offer far more promise at preventing and treating breast cancer than all the toximolecular drugs on the market put together.

When it comes to the breast cancer industry's emphasis on equating "prevention" with "early detection" through x-ray mammography, nowhere is the inherently pathological ideology of allopathic medicine more clearly evident. Not only is the very ionizing radiation used to discern pathological lesions in breast tissue one of the very risk factors for the development of breast cancer, but the identification of the word "prevention" with "early detection," is a disingenuous way of saying that all we can do to prevent breast cancer is to detect its inevitable presence sooner than would be possible without this technology.

If women succumb to the idea of prevention as doing nothing but waiting for the detection of the disease, many will find a similarly deranged logic reemerge later when the self-fulfilling prophecy of prevention-through-doing-nothing is fulfilled and "treatment" is now required. "Treatment," when not strictly surgical, involves the use of very powerful chemicals and high doses of ionizing radiation which "poison" the cancer cells. The obvious problem with these approaches is that the application of either form of death energy is not suitably selective, and in the long run, many women die sooner from the side effects of toximolecular "therapy" than from the cancer itself.

Why is the obvious question never asked: if exposure to the genotoxic and immune system disabling effects of chemicals and radiation is causative in breast cancer, then why is blasting the body with more poisonous chemicals and radiation considered sound treatment? The answer to this question has much more to do with ignorance than it does an intentional desire to do harm. But the results are the same: unnecessary pain, suffering and death.

Faced with a situation where medieval notions of prevention and treatment of breast cancer are the norm, it is no wonder that when polled over 40% of women believe they will contract breast cancer sometime in their life - well over three times their actual risk. After all, have any of them been given a sense that there is something they can do to actually prevent their disease other than "watchful waiting"?

Obfuscating the real preventative measures available to women to combat breast cancer, and all cancers for that matter, trusted "authoritative" sources like the Susan G. Komen Foundation publish irresponsible statements like this:

"It is unclear what the exact relationship is between eating fruits and vegetables and breast cancer risk...little, if any link was found between the two in a pooled analysis that combined data from eight large studies."

Have we really come to the point where the commonsense consumption of fruits and vegetables in the prevention of disease can so matter-of-factly be called into question? Do we really need placebo controlled, clinical trials to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that our bodies can benefit from the phytonutrients and antioxidants in fruits and vegetables in the prevention of cancer?

Examples like these make it increasingly apparent that orthodox medicine, and the world view it represents, are approaching a theoretical end-time perhaps most accurately described as Pharmageddon. Within the horizon of this perspective vitamins are considered toxic, fruits and vegetables simply a source of caloric content (a poor one, at that), and drugs are understood as the only legitimate and for that matter, legal, way to combat disease. Are we really at the tipping point, or is there still hope?

Thanks to thousands of scientific studies extant today on the therapeutic effects of foods, herbs and spices on breast health, we still have a fighting chance to let sanity and good sense inform our decisions about what we use as our medicine. Modern science has increasingly confirmed the veracity of the Hippocratean phrase: "let food be thy medicine," and until a prescription is required to obtain and consume organic food, we have quite an amazing arsenal at our disposal.

1) Cruciferous Vegetables, such as broccoli, kale, collards, cabbage and cauliflower contain a variety of powerful anti-cancer phytochemicals. The isothiocynanate sulfurane and the glucosinolate indole-3 carbinol, in particular, have demonstrated significant in vitro and in vivo activity against breast cancer. Large population studies have demonstrated that those who are in the top quarter percentile of cruciferous vegetable consumption have 50% less chance of developing breast cancer than those in the lowest quarter percentile. This sort of risk reduction is impossible for a drug, and so, it is often played down, lest the oxymoronic farce of pharmaceutical prevention be revealed for what it is.

2) The Estrogen Connection. Most breast cancer is estrogen receptor positive. For this reason reducing the effects of endogenously created estrogen, and reducing exposure to exogenously created estrogen (e.g. dairy consumption, hormone replace therapy) and estrogen-mimicking molecules (e.g. the leaching of bisphenol-A from plastics, and paraben preservatives in body care products) is crucial in reducing breast cancer risk. Supporting estrogen metabolism with the indole-3 carbinol in cruciferous vegetables, blocking the conversion of androgens into estrogen with aromatase inhibiting foods like white button mushrooms and pomegranate, or aromatase inhibiting herbs like hops, red clover, and grapeseed, and reducing estradiol binding to breast cell receptors with flaxseed lignan and the soy isoflavone genistein, are all ways in which natural substances have been demonstrated to prevent and inhibit breast cancer.

3) Inflammation: the Cox-2 enzyme is over-expressed in most breast cancers, and plays a key role in metastasis. This enzyme's job is to literally burn (oxidize) arachadonic acid, which is its main source of fuel. This process of combustion results in the production of the pro-inflammatory eicosanoid known as prostaglandin E2, which is found in high levels in malignant breast tumors. This entire inflammatory cascade depends on the production of arachadonic acid from the consumption of high levels of polyunsaturated omega 6 fatty acids found in all of those "healthy" grains, seeds and beans (e.g. soy, peanut) we've been told to consume by public and private health organizations. It is excess omega 6 fatty acid consumption, unopposed by sufficient levels of the omega 3 fatty acids, that literally provides the fuel that cancer ultimately feeds off of.

4) The Problem with Calcium: Women are told to consume massive amounts of fossilized calcium/chalk in order to prevent osteoporosis, despite the fact that there is absolutely no evidence demonstrating that thinning and porous bones are caused by a limestone deficiency. Where does all this calcium go? The body in the attempt to protect itself from biologically inappropriate forms of calcium shunts excess into the bone, where through stimulating the bone-building cells (osteoblasts) to replicate prematurely, the replicative potential (i.e. the fixed number of replication cycles available to the osteoblasts throughout one's lifetime) is prematurely exhausted. Although this may contribute to the production of denser bone earlier in life, the bone may not be stronger (glass is dense, but structurally weak), and the pace of bone formation later in life will be outstripped by bone resorption, resulting in higher facture rates, which is exactly the case in high calcium consuming cultures.

Shunting calcium into the bone as a protective mechanism is inefficient and results in the elimination of calcium via other channels, e.g. excreting it through the kidneys, perhaps contributing to the narrowing and calcification of the artery leading to the kidney (nephropathy), and calcification within the kidney itself (kidney stones). The inability to fully rid the body of excess calcium via the bones or excretion via the kidneys and bowel may lead to the deposition of calcium crystals in the joints (osteoarthritis) and the arteries (calcification of the fibrous cap on the atheroma), and arguably into the soft tissue of breasts.

The most common type of breast cancer in American women - mammary ductal carcinoma - is usually discovered in x-ray mammograms by the presence of very small specks of calcium known as microcalcifications. It is likely that in susceptible individuals limestone (calcium carbonate, and the various chelate forms: citrate, gluconate, etc) and bonemeal supplements (also known as calcium phosphorous or calcium hydroxapatite) will not only lead to the calcification of breast tissue, but may exert proliferative effects on that tissue. This theory has gained support by a Queensland researcher, Won Jae Lee, who has identified a mechanism by which excess calcium acts as a mitogen (i.e. stimulating cell division) capable of signaling breast cells to proliferate uncontrollably. By inhibiting the calcium signaling Lee was able to dramatically block the growth of these cancers. Although these findings do not prove calcium supplements cause breast cancer, it raises the possibility that changing the amount and type of calcium in the diet may have profound effects on reducing breast cancer risk.

Numerous other natural substances have demonstrated profound activity against breast cancer, including but not limited to: vitamin D, melatonin, DHEA, black cohosh, red clover, skullcap, cranberry, cats claw, grapeseed, inositol hexaphosphate, walnuts and many more.

Much of the research on the healing effects of foods, herbs, vitamins and spices in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer is available on Medline today. This biomedical database contains most the world's combined scientific resources going back over half a century on the evidence proving the safety and efficacy of natural substances in the treatment of disease. You are welcome to visit my new consumer advocacy website, www.PatientHealThyself.info, which provides free access to the Medline database, in a well-organized and carefully selected manner.

* AstraZeneca, which manufactures breast cancer drugs Arimidex and Tamoxifen, founded the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the year 1985. The aim of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer. (source: http://www.nbcam.org/about_faq.cfm)

8 Steps For a Woman Dancing With Cancer

Submit. Give up. Make room for the miracle.

Inform yourself. Listen to your intuition. Examine all the options, but only use what feels right to you.

Accept support. Surround yourself with loving friends, healing music, special colors, prayer and affirmation. Create a ceremony of healing/wholing and invite your supporters.

Anoint your breast(s) with healing herbal oils such as calendula, dandelion, or poke. Visualize healing energies suffusing your tissues.

Maximize the healthy qualities of your diet:



Use organic olive oil and butter to the exclusion of other fats.
Increase your use of beans, especially lentils, and fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, tamari, homemade wines and beers.
Include immune building and anticancer herbs in your diet:


Daily use of a nourishing infusion, especially red clover flower or burdock root or violet leaf infusions.
Daily use of fresh herb vinegars, especially yellow dock, burdock, and dandelion root vinegars.
Frequent use of a long-cooked soup containing seaweed (such as kombu or wakame), astragalus root, and medicinal mushrooms (reishi, shiitake, puffballs, etc).


Increase you exercise level. Take a yoga or tai chi class weekly. Walk daily. Get a weekly massage. Pamper yourself with activity. Use drugs (chemotherapy, tamoxifen, anesthesia, pain killers) as required but:
consider a short trial of a powerful herb such as poke root before resorting to drugs; and
always combine drug use with complementary herbs. For instance, protect the liver with milk thistle seed tincture.

Use radiation and surgery as needed but:

always combine with complementary herbs; and
be willing to set limits that you feel comfortable with - they can't take your lymph glands if you say "No."

Nine Ways to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Mutation in either the BRCA1 or the BRCA2 gene, excess estrogen levels in the body, diet, excess weight, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking are all risk factors for breast cancer. While there's almost nothing we can do to change hereditary gene mutation, it is within our power to control the other factors and protect our breasts.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

A recent American Cancer Society study of more than 62,000 women found that the more weight women gain after age 18, the greater their risk of developing breast cancer during menopause. Extra pounds increase estrogen production, which can fuel cancer growth. On the other hand, even if you are heavier regular exercise will reduce your risk significantly.

"Physical activity is thought to lower the amount of estrogen in the body, thereby lowering your breast cancer," explains Dr. Debbie Saslow, PhD, Director of Breast and Gynecologic Cancer at the American Cancer Society. So get moving. A brisk 30-minute walk five days a week can reduce breast cancer risk by 18 percent, according to a study of more than 74,000 women ages 50 to 79.

Eat Good Fats

High levels of polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat have been linked to breast cancer, so limit these fats in your diet. Opt for more monounsaturated fat, such as olive and canola oils. A study in Sweden of more than 61,000 women between the ages of 40 and 76 showed that consuming an additional 10 grams of monounsaturated fat reduces breast cancer risk by an estimated 45 percent. On the other hand, the study also showed that every extra 5 grams of polyunsaturated fat consumed, increased breast cancer risk by 69 percent. Breast cancer rates are low among women in Spain, Greece, and Italy, and the fact that people in these countries use olive oil as their primary source of fat undoubtedly is a factor in this beneficial result.

Eat Fruits and Vegetables

Carotenoids are powerful antioxidants that protect against cancer, and these are found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Researchers at New York University compared blood samples from 270 women who subsequently developed breast cancer to samples taken from 270 women who did not. They found that women with the lowest levels of carotenoids had twice the risk of breast cancer as found in those with the highest levels. Try to eat five to nine servings (one-half- to one cup) daily of fruit and vegetables, especially carrots, tomatoes, watermelon, and spinach.

Add Flaxseed to Your Diet

These seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which support cardiovascular health as well as lowering the risk of all types of cancer. Flaxseed also contains high levels of a compound called lignans that may reduce estrogen activity in the body. Studies on rats show that lignans actually shrink breast tumors. To eat flaxseed, sprinkle two to three tablespoons of ground flaxseed on your cereal, add to smoothies, or use flaxseed oil in salad dressing.

Learn to Like Soy

Women in Asia have one-fifth the breast cancer rate of Western women. Scientists believe that the reason is their soy-rich diet. A Japanese study showed that women who ate three or more bowls of miso soup (made with fermented soybeans), reduced their risk by 50 percent over those who had less. Soy foods contain phytoestrogens, compounds that are weak forms of estrogen and may protect against breast cancer. Add one to two servings of soy foods daily to your diet - a cup of soy milk, a half cup of tofu, tempeh, or soy nuts.

Limit Alcohol Intake

Alcohol intake is linked to increased levels of estrogen which fuels cancer. It is recommended that if you drink alcohol occasionally, take 400 micrograms of daily folic acid (the amount found in most multivitamins). A Mayo Clinic study showed that women with the lowest folate (folic acid occurring in fruits and vegetables) intake who drank even a small amount of alcohol daily -- even half a drink -- had a 59 percent increased risk of breast cancer, but a high intake of folate cancelled out the increased risk among moderate drinkers. How folate reduces the risk is not clear, but experts agree that most Americans are not getting enough.

Quit Smoking

Studies show that the younger women are when they first start smoking, the greater their risk of developing breast cancer before menopause. Other studies suggest that women with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer may increase their risk if they smoke. Also current and past smokers who develop breast cancer are twice as likely to get an aggressive form of the disease that is not estrogen-dependent. Similar risk applies with second-hand smoke.

Limit Use of Antibiotics

New evidence suggests that the more often you take antibiotics, the higher your breast cancer risk. A study of more than 10,000 women revealed that the risk of breast cancer is doubled among those who took antibiotics for more than 500 cumulative days (the equivalent of about 25 prescriptions) over an average of 17 years compared with women who never took antibiotics. Researchers caution, however, that other factors, such as underlying illness, weakened immune system, or hormonal imbalance, could account for the increased risk.

Opt to Breast-Feed

Not only is it good for your infant, but lactation also suppresses ovulation and the production of estrogen. Researchers compared the birth rates and breast-feeding practices among women in developed countries with women in developing nations in Asia and Africa and found that the breast cancer risk in developed countries could be cut in half if women had as many babies and breast-fed each child for an average of 30 months per child as women in developing countries. Breast-feeding alone would reduce the risk by two-thirds. They also found that for each year a woman breast-feeds, her breast cancer risk dropped 4 percent.

Source:
American Breast Cancer Association
The Mayo Clinic