Breasts: Health, Unhealth, and Prevention
By Adrian E. Feldhusen, NHCM, CPM
Page 3
How Our Bodies Help Themselves
The liver is the most significant organ in the body in terms of hormone
balancing. As I stated before, hormone regulation is vastly important to
not only breast health, but overall health as well. The liver converts
potentially toxic forms of estrogen into safer forms. Failure of the liver
to do this is a direct result of overload. Reducing overload on your
internal organs can be achieved by eliminating harmful substances, such as
pesticides, food additives, and trans fats. Alcohol avoidance will also
help with liver overload. Consume organic foods when possible, in a natural
and unprocessed state.
The lymphatic systems process of draining and filtering wastes from the
body is am important component to breast health. The volume of lymphatic
fluid is 3 times the volume of blood in our body, and there is no pump to
help it along. It is vital to protect the lymph nodes, as breast cancer
usually spreads there first when it metastasizes. Stagnation of the
lymphatic system occurs when there is a lack of activity, and eating the
wrong kinds of fats. Stagnant lymph fluid which overburdens the system
taxes immunity and also develops a cottage-cheese like consistency under the
skin, related to cellulite deposits right below the skin surface. The
things to help the lymphatic system are:
1. Eliminate margarine and poor quality fats
2. Increase protective fats
3. Light massage along the lymphatic system
4. Body brushing
5. Sitting with feet elevated, and also raising arms for a period of time each day
6. Consume foods in natural states
7. Eliminate sugar
8. Deep breathing
9. Exercise
10. Take a sauna, or drink ginger tea to induce sweating
Our Emotional Selves
Christiane Northrup, M.D., writes, "The mind and the body are intimately
linked via the immune, endocrine, and central nervous systems. Today,
mind/body research is confirming what ancient healing traditions have
always known: that the body and the mind are a unity. There is no disease
that isnt mental and emotional as well as physical."
Breasts are at the center of our fourth chakra. This chakra is related to
our capacity to express ourselves emotionally and participate in true
partnerships in which both members are equally powerful and equally
vulnerable. Breasts are the physical metaphor for giving and receiving.
Mental emotional issues that Christianne Northrup, MD, lists as effecting
the 4th chakra are:
- Emotional expression including capacity to feel fully, express and resolve anger, hostility, joy, love, grief, and forgiveness
- Capacity to form mutual, reciprocal partnerships with balance of giving, receiving, nurturing of self vs. nurturing of others, intimacy with others vs. capacity to be alone (intimacy with self) (21)
Emotions such as regret and the classic "broken heart" are
energetically stored in this center of the body. Guilt over not being
able to forgive oneself or forgive others blocks the breasts energy. (22)
Caroline Myss, who is internationally known as a medical intuitive
who reads illness and energy dysfunction in the body, notes "The major
emotion behind breast lumps and breast cancer is hurt, sorrow, and
unfinished emotional business generally related to nurturance." A study
in 1995 found that the risk of developing breast cancer increased by nearly
12 times if a woman had suffered some sort of bereavement, job loss, or
divorce in the previous five years. (23)
Women with breast cancer frequently have a tendency toward
self-sacrifice, inhibited sexuality, an inability to see themselves
supported by others, an inability to discharge anger or hostility, a
tendency to hide anger and hostility behind a façade of pleasantness,
and an unresolved hostile conflict with their mothers. (24)
Several studies demonstrate the association of life events, emotional
issues and breast cancer. One such study showed that women with stressful
life events and life change over a 10 year period had a 4.67 times risk of
developing breast cancer. (25) In another study, women were given
questionnaires while waiting for a
mammogram that studied their life events and their emotional status.
They found that women in the new cancer group showed significantly more
loneliness than the other groups. The newly diagnosed cancer group also
had a higher proportion of women who experienced the death of someone close
to them within the past two years. (26) Two other studies demonstrated
that stress could contribute to the
relapse of breast cancer, especially when the stress is severe and life
threatening. (27, 28)
Breastfeeding and Its Role
Several studies have shown that lactation has a preventive effect on breast
cancer. One study showed that the reduction in breast cancer risk is about
20% for ever breastfeeding and is even greater for women with histories of
prolonged lactation, or who initiate breast feeding at young ages. (29)
Another study showed similar results, and examined the incidence among
postmenopausal women. It also showed that there was a 30% lower risk
among women who began breastfeeding between ages 20 and 24. (30) Another
study in Taiwan showed that women who had more than 3 full-term
pregnancies, the age at first full-term pregnancy was younger than 30, and
breast fed for more than 3 years total displayed significantly protective
effects against breast cancer. (31)
We do not totally understand the role of breast feeding and cancer prevention.
Several theories are under investigation at this time. One such theory states
that an excess of estrogen, as we stated before, increases the risk of breast
cancer considerably. Over the course of her lifetime, a woman will ovulate
and menstruate many times. In past years these cycles were fewer as women
had children at an earlier age, had more children per family, and also breast
fed more often and for longer duration. This in turn led to fewer hormones,
especially estrogen, circulating on a regular basis throughout her body.
I think this theory lends quite a bit of credibility, but warrants further
investigation and attention.
Some of these theories are being tested today. One such study examined women
who had an earlier menarche age, were nulliparious, and who had a later age
of first live birth. They found that each of these groups had an increase
in breast cancer risk, especially among younger women. (32) Another study
in the Netherlands showed the same effects of women who had
never had children. Women with a menarche of age 10 or 11 showed a 2.2
times higher risk for breast cancer compared to women who had their first
menstrual period at 12 years of age or older. (33)
Other Things to Consider
Whether you are interested in preventing breast cancer or breast cancer
recurrence, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes prevention is the
best cure. The TCM concept of prevention is a medical theory-based one
built on the understanding of the root cause of this condition. Prevention
goes beyond breast self-examination to address the root cause of breast
cancer as it was identified 500 years ago. According to TCM, the root
cause of breast cancer is the stagnation of vital energy or Qi in the
meridians (energy pathways) that run through the breast area, and the
dysfunction of one or more of three major organs - the kidney, stomach,
and liver. (When TCM discusses an organ, the meaning is broader than the
physical organ. It includes the energy function of a particular organ).
This stagnation and dysfunction are mainly caused by chronic negative
emotional energy that has built up over time. (34)
Following is a description of the root cause of breast cancer as outlined
in an ancient medical text:
"These [negative] emotions accumulate day by day and cause spleen and stomach energy deficiency and liver energy stagnation. These conditions will cause the body to create a lump. When energy stagnates in the meridians over time, a small seed can progress to a cancerous mass. Then the five major organs will spiral out of balance. The problem is called breast cancer."
-Dr. Chen, Wai Ke Zheng Zong, Circa 1400 A.D.
One other important aspect of breast health is how we treat the breasts on
the outside. By this I am referring to bras, anti-perspirants, and
deodorants. For quite some time now, bras have been implicated in increasing
the incidence of breast cancer by suppressing the lymph nodes under the arms
and breast tissue. In the book, Dressed to Kill: The Link Between
Bras and
Breast Cancer, the authors developed a statistical observation of
women who
wore bras, those who wore them excessively, and those that didnt. They
found that women who wore bras more than 12 hours per day had a 19 times
greater risk of breast cancer than women who wore them less than 12 hours
per day. Women who did not wear them at all were best off. There has been
some criticism as to how the study was handled, although there is compelling
evidence that their theory may have some merit. Although there is no hard
scientific link to this assumption, more and more we are finding that this
may warrant some additional research. The same theory holds true for
anti-perspirants. If the lymph nodes are not allowed to purge the body of
toxins, then the toxins are reabsorbed into the body and especially into the
lymph nodes themselves.
