The Importance of Breast Self-Exam: Breast Cancer Battle Can Be Won

Part [1]     [2]     3     [4]

The Importance of Breast Self-Examination

It is important to examine your breasts each month past age twenty at the same point in your menstrual cycle, preferably the first week after your menstrual period ends.  Do not examine them during your menstrual period.  

Before the period, a woman's breasts may swell and become tender or lumpy.  This usually decreases after the period.  

The breasts also become larger and firmer during pregnancy, in preparation for breastfeeding.  Familiarize yourself with the normal feel of your breasts so that you can detect any changes such as enlargement of a lump.  A woman who is accustomed to the way her breasts feels is better able to notice subtle changes.  Any changes in your breasts should be reported to your health care provider, and you should be rechecked by a professional if you have any doubt concerning your examination.  

Since men also can get breast cancer, they can benefit from self-examination as well.  

The following is the recommended procedure for breast self-examination: 

1. While standing and looking in the mirror, raise your hands over your head and press them together.  Notice the shape of your breasts.  Place your hands on your hips, apply pressure, and look for irritation or dimpling of the skin, nipples that seem to be out of position, one breast that looks different from the other, swelling in a portion of the breast, nipple pain, an inward curve of the nipple, a discharge from the nipple (other than breast milk), or red scaling or thickening of the skin and nipples.
2. Raise one arm above your head.  With the other hand, firmly explore your breast.  Beginning at the outer edge, using a circular motion, gradually work toward the nipple.  Take your time when examining the area between the nipple and the armpit, and feel the armpit as well.  You have lymph nodes in the armpit; they move freely and feel soft, and are not painful to the touch.  Look for lumps that are hard and not mobile.  Cancers are often attached to underlying muscle or the skin.  When you have finished examining one breast, repeat this on the other side.
3. Lie down on your back and repeat Step 2.  Lumps may be more easily detected in this position.  Also, squeeze each nipple gently to check for blood or a watery yellow or pink discharge.

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In addition to monthly self-examination, the American Cancer Society recommends that women between the ages of twenty and thirty-nine have their breasts examined by a physician every one to three years.

After age forty, the exam should be performed every year.  Women should get their first mammogram by age forty, then have one every year along with their yearly exam. 

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Mammograms can detect small tumors and breast abnormalities up to two years before they can be felt, when they are most treatable.  A mammogram should be scheduled within the first fourteen days of your menstrual cycle, when the breasts are less likely to be swollen.  You should not use any anti-perspirant, deodorant, or powder on the day of the test, as it can interfere with the reading.

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When breast cancer is caught in the very early stages--when it has not invaded nearby tissues--the cure rate is near 100 per cent with surgery alone.  Tumors of 1 centimeter or less in size carry a particularly good prognosis--less than a 10-percent likelihood of recurrence within ten years.  In general, the risk of recurrence rises with increasing tumor size and lymp node involvement.

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The connection between exercise and cancer is a fairly new area of research.  Some studies suggest that getting regular exercise in youth might give life-long protection against breast cancer.  Even moderate physical activity as an adult may lower breast cancer risk.  More research is underway to confirm these findings.  Outdoor exercise where you are getting some (but not too much) sun exposure also raises Vitamin D levels (low levels have been associated with a greater risk of cancer).

[SOURCE:   Phyllis A. Balch, CNC and James F. Balch, MD, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Third Edition, p. 222, 223]

Part [1]     [2]     3     [4]    

Battle Against Breast Cancer Can Be Won: Risk Factors

Part [1] 2 [3] [4]

Risk Factors in Breast Cancer

There is probably no single answer as to what causes breast cancer, and it is reported that as many as 60 per cent of breast cancers develop without any known risk factors.

1. Estrogen

Researchers believe, however, that the female sex hormone estrogen is the most likely culprit in many cases of breast cancer. Estrogen promotes cellular growth in the tissues of the breasts and reproductive organs, and cancer is a disorder of unrestrained cellular growth.

Moreover, some of the known risk factors for breast cancer include onset of menstruation before age nine, menopause after age fifty-five, having a first child after age forty, and having no or few children.

One thing all of these risk factors have in common is that they result in the breasts being exposed to more estrogen for longer periods.

2. Environmental Factors

Currently, research does not point clearly to environmental factors (such as exposure to pesticides and other pollutants) as a possible factor in the development of breast cancer. However, research on the effects of pesticides is ongoing, and there are many health care professionals that advise avoiding these substances as much as possible, as they mimic these substances in the body.

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3. Obesity

There may be a link between obesity and an increased risk of developing breast cancer, especially for women over fifty years of age. However, this is a complex issue. The risk appears to vary depending on whether a woman has been obese since childhood, or if she gained the excess weight during adulthood.

A study reported in the journal Cancer found that women who gained more than twenty-two pounds since their teenage years doubled their chances of getting breast cancer. Interestingly, the increased risk posed by obesity may also be linked to estrogen. Obese women tend to have higher levels of estrogen in their bodies than thin women. There are conflicting reports to whether eating a high-fat diet is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

However, many physicians believe that it is among the highest risk factors. When a woman eats a diet high in fat and low in fiber, her body produces more estrogen.

4. Heredity

Heredity is a factor in breast cancer as well. There are certain types of the disease that clearly run in families. Researchers estimate that only 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers occur in women with a clearly defined genetic predisposition for the disease. Hereditary cancers usually develop before the age of fifty.

5. Estrogen Replacement Therapy

Although it is possible for a woman to get breast cancer at any age, the disease is most common in women over forty, especially post-menopausal women. Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT), often used in the treatment of menopause, may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer after long-term use (ten years or more). This risk applies to those who are still using (or have recently stopped using) ERT. Five years after stopping ERT, the breast cancer risk returns to normal.

A recent report from the Iowa Women's Health Study has reported that ERT may not increase risk for most common types of breast cancer, but it may increase risk for certain rare forms of the disease. This is the first report of its kind to come out pinpointing risk for specific tumor types.

6. Gender

Men also can get breast cancer, but they account for fewer than 1 percent of breast cancer cases. However, while it occurs less frequently, breast cancer in men usually is diagnosed at a later, and therefore more serious, stage because neither physicians nor their patients tend to suspect it. Cure rates are, in general, the same for men as they are for women.

It is important to detect breast cancer in its earliest and most curable stage. Making healthy changes in diet and lifestyle, examining your breasts regularly, and having regular mammograms can increase your chances of avoiding or, if need be, overcoming breast cancer.

[SOURCE: Phyllis A. Balch, CNC and James F. Balch, MD, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Third Edition, pp 221-222]

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