Breasts: Health, Unhealth, and Prevention
By Adrian E. Feldhusen, NHCM, CPM

The beginnings of this study came out of my own experiences. One day in 1999 (I was 31), I found a large, painful lump in my left breast. I called my mother, to get her advice on this subject, and she then informed me that my grandmother (who was 80) had also found a large lump in her breast that same day. What a coincidence, I thought. I was soon to find the meaning of these words.

Being so young, I could not imagine having cancer in my breast. I had done everything right- eaten well, had two children, breastfed both children extensively, and was a non-smoker. The doctor was reassuring, saying that most painful lumps were benign and probably just cystic. Well, a lump is a lump, and I was scared. So I began the rigors of testing and reading up on what was going on in my body. The amount of information- and misinformation- was astounding and overwhelming, to say the least.

I searched for books, magazine articles, web sites, and pamphlets. I called toll-free numbers for information, contacted groups on the subject, and then went for a mammogram and ultrasound. I never knew there was so much information on the subject of breasts- those beautiful, nourishing, and sexual organs attached to my body that were causing me so much pain. This is a review of some of the many things that I learned about breasts and their health, unhealth, and prevention of problems.

As Women

I have found that so many women do not honor their bodies. We have come to find them strange, mysterious, and unacceptable. What is normal? What is abnormal? Most do not really know. I cannot tell you how many women I have asked if they do a breast self-examination monthly, that tell me they do not. The ones that do usually feel more comfortable with themselves and their bodies. I always try to incorporate how to do this effectively when I see my clients during well-woman visits. Going back into the history of women’s health, the general trend has been one of medicalization, of taking power away from women. For a long time, it was fashionable for a woman to be weak, suffer from many ailments, and rely heavily on doctors. Although this was greatest at the beginning of the 1900s, its impact was far reaching into the future of women’s health.

As we discover health within ourselves, we need to get to know our bodies and what is normal. How we treat ourselves, both by what we take into it and what we do for it on the outside is vastly important in our discussion. Taking time for our emotional selves displays an understanding of our bodies deeper than just what is on the surface. Understanding what is normal is the first step in finding what may be abnormal, for each woman is a unique individual that needs to be seen as such.

Breast Health

What does a normal breast look like? Well, as a woman, just look in the mirror. They come in all shapes, sizes, and even colors. Some are firm, others droopy, large or small- and everything in between. In this society, the advertising of breasts is seen everywhere from cereal boxes on the kitchen tables to automobiles. And they would like you to think that every woman has a perfect, round, perky chest that requires little more than a skimpy white T-shirt to support it. Well, not so in this world of humanity and imperfection. Breasts vary just as much as the individual woman. And every breast shape and size is normal for that individual woman.

The breasts are designed to provide nourishment for a woman’s babies and sexual pleasure for the woman herself. They change with the hormones in the menstrual cycle, and are connected intimately with the female genital system. They begin changing during adolescence, and continue to change over the course of the natural lifetime. Quite often, one breast is larger than the other.

What benefits breast health helps the entire body, especially the endocrine system. Imbalance of the endocrine system’s hormones can result in conditions such as diabetes, hypoglycemia, and cancer, as well as mood swings, menstrual cramps, and symptoms of menopause as these are also the result of hormonal imbalances. I will discuss these symptoms in more detail later on. These are often the direct result of the typical western diet. Let’s look at the diet and what role it plays in our breast health.