By: Prudence Hall, M.D. Medical Director
You don't have to develop breast cancer. Let's talk facts and plan a strategy together for prevention of this unnecessary cancer.
One in seven American women, or 15 out of 100 women, develop breast cancer at some time during their lives. That's a whole lot of women, and not much is being said about prevention. By the time breast cancer is diagnosed, it has been growing for at least 5 years and more likely a full 10 years. Why wait for it to happen? Let's prevent it! Prevention lies in correcting the three process that cause cancer: inflammation, glycation and oxidation (read more by Prudence Hall, MD)...
Research from MD Anderson University reveals 90% of cancers are caused by inflammation. Inflammation comes from three main sources: the gut, the jaw and imbalanced hormones. Allergic type foods such as wheat, dairy, soy and egg are common sources of gut inflammation, so try hard to keep these to a minimum in your diet. Get a stool test done to detect the DNA of nasty parasites and yeast so you can heal your digestive tract (Metametrix GI Fx). Takes some probiotics and drink a nice gut smoothie for breakfast to aid in the healing made with one of our medical powders, one teaspoonful MSM, one tablespoon GI Revive, fiber, water and some nice powdered greens or blueberries. Did you know that Curcumen (the Indian spice) turns off NF-Kappa, the switch to control inflammation? I am so excited by the data coming out of MD Anderson Cancer Center and UCLA that C3 is my newest and greatest supplement. Let's switch off inflammation causing breast cancer and all cancers, as well as inflammation causing heart disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis, and the other "itis's". I take 4 per day, but it is more standard to take 2 capsules per day. There is absolutely no toxicity to this spice up to 8,000 mg per day and it is very natural. Have your dentist check your fillings and root canals and replace any old or mercury one. A holistic dentist we all like and trust with this process is Dr. Ahn of Beverly Hills. He passes our standard for knowing how to diagnose and treat oral inflammation safely.
Inflammation is also caused by low hormones. This is not just at menopause, but also during reproductive years due to birth control pill use. The pill is now implicated in a 10% increase in breast cancer. The use of birth control pills causes inflammation in women by decreasing their hormone levels to that of menopausal untreated women. With IUD's, natural rhythm methods, diaphragms, and the solidly unbreakable and comfortable Crown Condoms, we have viable alternatives to keep our hormones intact and still choose when to get pregnant. If you need an RX for the morning after pill, give us a call. This emergency birth control can be used up to 72 hours after an unprotected event.
Menopausal and other low estrogen individuals commonly suffer from multiple types of inflammation; everything from joints, to digestive inflammation, to muscle pain, to autoimmune inflammation, and heart disease. By balancing ALL our hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, human growth hormone, testosterone, melatonin and thyroid we can decrease breast cancer. Hormones and breast cancer are being studied at many institutions around the world. I will site a few of the interesting ones:
# 23,00 Swiss women took estradiol or estriol at menopause and had a 28% decrease in deaths from breast cancer.
# 319 women with breast cancer were followed at MD Anderson Cancer Center and had their localized tumors removed. Two years later an experimental 39 women were started on estrogen and controlled with the group who were not. Only one woman developed a reoccurrence in the estrogen group, but 14 in the controls who did not take estrogen.
# A Swedish study looked at menopausal women with localized breast cancer. After 5 years of hormone (estrogen-progesterone) use 3.6% of women had reoccurrences compared to 13.5 in the non-estrogen taking group.
# The Woman Health Initiative, looking at 125,000 menopausal nurses on and off estrogens five years ago, just published a partial retraction of their initial warnings against taking estrogens. They concluded that estrogen decreases heart disease by 65%, protected bones and offered other benefits that they hadn't initially appreciated. Depending on which group was looked at, premarin plus provera slightly increased breast cancer (16-17 woman out of 100 getting breast cancer), or slightly decreased it (13-14 out of 100 getting breast cancer)) if they were on premarin alone. Compare this to 15 out of 100 women getting breast cancer if they choose to age naturally without taking hormones. We only prescribe bioidentical hormones and do NOT prescribe Premarin due to its ultimately inflammatory and unsavory nature. There are many people allergic to horses and therefore to some of the 35 different horse hormones found in Premarin. The progestin evaluated in the study is, in my opinion, a terrible one (provera) known to cause depression, heart disease and weight gain. Natural progesterone on the other hand increases cell apoptosis which "cleans up" any cancering cells. Especially if it is "cycled" or possibly added in a rhythmic manner, it appears to be most beneficial.
# Breast cancer is associated with low thyroid states so it is important to detect any borderline deficiencies. T3 (the active thyroid hormone) activates Natural Killer Cells in the body whose role it is to defend against cancer. (Journal of Gerontology). Low thyroid affects a breast protein called Tenacin-C. in the breast, to decrease growth of cancer cell (Madrid, Spain).
# DHEA decreases abdominal fat associated with increased breast cancer (UCSD) as well as decreases by 50 % breast cancer in a group of experimental rats (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland). Remember though, as one of my mentors, Diana Swartzbein, is fond of saying, "replace only missing hormones. Do not replace hormones that are normal." A DHEA-S level considered normal in women, according to the renowned Belgium endocrinologist Thierry Hertzog, is 250 for blood levels. It's easy to check levels in saliva, urine or blood.
# Melatonin is a hormone beneficial in decreasing not only Alzheimer's disease (a condition also caused by inflammation; see Neurologist David Permutter's fantastic book "A Better Brain") but also by supporting our immune system so we can resist cancering of all kinds. Melatonin is secreted by the brain and begins to decrease by age 15 resulting in more sleepless nights as we reach mid life. Absolute darkness with the help of eye pillows or shields helps increase this hormones release while sleeping, as does taking 1mg to 6mgs melatonin at sleep. Occasionally people report vivid dreams with melatonin, but I am more the norm and sleep profoundly using 3 mg. Howard (Liebowitz) uses 6 mg at night as he is a big guy, and I have a few patients who need up to even 12 to 15 mgs. I have heard David Permutter suggest for insomnia beginning your dose at 1mg and doubling the dose every half hour until you fall asleep, which is then the dose you need. Interesting concept.
We still need to understand the role estrogen plays in breast cancer prevention and proliferation. Many researchers feel it has to do with the way estrogens are detoxified by the liver. Estrogens are broken down into a toxic 16 alpha hydroxyestrone and a beneficial 2 hydroxyestrone, as well as other breakdown metabolites such as the beneficial estriol. Broccoli and other greens, fish oil and a nicely functioning (NOT low) thyroid help to break the estrogens into the beneficial 2-form. Also, if our digestion is healthy, we won't leak the toxic estrogen back into the bloodstream after it has been eliminated. Note that DIM (broccoli extract) plus calcium d-glucarate aid in the healthy breakdown and elimination of estrogens. Iodine is emerging as an important prevention of breast cancer by helping estrogen to break down into the healthy metabolite estriol, associated with breast protection. Salt has been iodized for years, but Americans are limiting their use of salt or using sea salt which is not iodized. This results in iodine deficiencies and increases in breast cancer. We strongly recommend supplementing your diet with natural seaweed and kelp or taking 10 to 30 mg of iodine as a supplement. Some of you will be allergic to iodine, especially if you have seafood allergies, so be aware of this and immediately stop the supplement if you break out in a rash or hives. We now have a fantastic 24 hour urine test that lets us know exactly how your estrogens are being broken down as well as checking adrenal and thyroid function (Meridian Valley 24 hour test). Another new test to help accurately balance your thyroid and thereby decrease breast cancer risks is the cutting edge Thyrolar computerized test. The cost is $60 (blood is at least $100) and is considered to be VERY accurate; in fact more accurate than blood in many instances which is why we started using it.
Moving on from inflammation, the process of glycation is another important cause of breast cancer. Glycation is a brown crispy layer coating our cells due to excess blood sugar. Glycation not only damages our cells and increases cancer, but also causes 85% of all high blood pressure, according to Mark Houston, MD-extraordinary, researcher and clinician at Vanderbilt Vascular Institute. I call glycation the body's creme Brule. The American diet is full of sugar and starchy carbohydrates which cause glycation. We can measure your level of glycation by a blood test called a hemoglobin A1C. Ideal is below 5.0. Above 6 is in the diabetic range. Did you know that 1 out of 2 diabetic patients develop cancer due to the damaging effects of glycation? AND did you know that untreated menopause increases diabetes and high blood sugar? Luckily, glycation is preventable and reversible, which is why we recommend a low glycemic, low allergic diet, as well as balancing your hormones at menopause. See the article by Jennifer Katz, our Center's nutritionist. We also use supplements such as Metabolic Synergy to lower damage due to sugar.
Speaking of diet, healthy fats (olive, omega 3 fish and coconut oils) are all beneficial in preventing breast cancer. The transfats, animal fats and many plant-based fats such as canola and safflower oil increase cancers. The jury is out on how much fat to eat, but we do not encourage a low fat diet; rather a "smart fat" diet. Being overweight and especially the extra fat around the middle is associated with increased breast cancer. Guess what happens when we become insulin resistant or diabetic? That's right; weight right around the middle increases.
Oxidation is the third process that causes breast cancer. Oxidation occurs when our liver and cells create free radicals from breaking down toxins. Solution? Decrease toxins in our diet and our environment. Eat organic, don't drink out of plastic bottles, (use the nice stainless steel ones we sell, or use glass), take 1000 mg of NAC to help increase our levels of our body's own antioxidant called glutathione. Take a teaspoonful of MSM a day. Do our Center's detox program. It is cutting edge, terrific and very effective. (see Dr. Tim Walsh's prior news-mail article and the current colon therapy article). Tim is an amazing source of Eastern, homeopathic and Functional Medicine wisdom which he incorporates into our Center's detox program. Another way to counteract oxidation is by taking antioxidants. I like "3-A-Day", "ultimate antioxidant" and all the greens products. Speaking of which, juicing greens is a fantastic way to get your antioxidants naturally from foods. Our talented Jenn will be demonstrating juicing recipes and shakes in the store using yummy organics during the month of August every Thursday from 11- 12:00 AM. Come on by to taste her delicious treats and learn to juice organic veggies. Rozlynn Myers, our equally much-loved homeopath and medical intuitive, will be with Jenn, chatting about homeopathy and sharing any intuitions she might have about your health, if you care to know. We welcome you and your friends!
In parting, I'd like to suggest the book "Keeping ABreast; Ways to Stop Breast Cancer" by oncologist Khalid Mahmud. It is available in our book store it is recommended as one of the most helpful books we've seen on breast cancer prevention. We give our gratitude to Dr. Mahmud, as well as our deepest desire for all of us to maintain healthy, happy breasts our entire life.
This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to treat or diagnose any health condition.