Posts Tagged "breast cancer"

Wednesday Bubble: Breast cancer – it’s personal

Posted by Liz on Oct 28, 2009 in breast cancer | 10 comments

I don’t typically get too personal on Flashfree because this blog is a resource for you, dear readers. However, I want to leave October’s Wednesday Bubble posts with something a bit closer to the bone and heart: breast cancer.

Location: Department Store dressing room stall. Circa: late 1960s, early 1970s.

The characters: Me and my mom.

Scene: She is covering herself as she removes her shirt. I notice the scars. Lots of scars….to the side of one breast. I meet her eyes and she meets mine. Then I learn what the term ‘ breast cancer’ means.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 30. Thirty. Even today, less than half of women under the age of 40 are likely to develop breast cancer and the majority of cases are diagnosed after the age of 50. So, imagine the shock. What’s more, imagine the time. The 1950s… when breast cancer awareness wasn’t at the fore and people didn’t discuss it, when breasts and surrounding muscle were literally hacked off rather than carefully removing the tumor with clean margins, when many men left their wives after they became disfigured.

My dad didn’t leave. And my brother learned about it through a ‘friend’ in school who was teasing him.

I’ve spoken to my mother about her cancer, about the fear of it returning (it has not, thank goodness), and about how she feels about not being able to wear sleeveless tops or strengthen/firm those muscles even though she has exercised regularly her entire life. How she felt when my brother came home from school and asked her about it. How she feels now when a friend is diagnosed with cancer. Her answer is always pretty much the same.

I don’t know anyone who has not been touched by breast cancer. Not. One. Person.

In the past year, I’ve had two friends who’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, not for the first but second time. Like most of you, I am regularly inspired by the women in my life who are first or second-time survivors, just as I am moved by those who’ve lost their battles but not without a fight.

Breasts. For whatever reason, they are such an integral part of who we are as women and how we define ourselves in relation to the world around us. And yet, we continue to be plagued by this cancer and its effects on our health, our families and the world around us. Despite advances in research and awareness, we’re not even close to winning this battle:

• Worldwide, every 30 seconds a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer
• Every 90 seconds, a woman loses her fight to it
• In 2007, almost half of all women had mastectomies compared to only 7% who had breast reconstruction

Can’t we do better?

It’s hard to imagine that in my mother’s lifetime, the likelihood of finding a cure is, well, unlikely.

This one’s close to the bone. It’s close to my heart. It’s personal.

Wednesday Bubble: herbs for breast cancer prevention

Posted by Liz on Oct 21, 2009 in breast cancer | 7 comments

In keeping in line with my commitment to inspiring, breast cancer-related bubbles during the month of October, I am happy to share some rather promising news.

This week, it comes from Germany and was reported this past August in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention: while hormone replacement therapy appears to increase the risk of breast cancer, use of herbal preparations containing phytoestrogens (plant-based compounds that act similar to estrogen) may actually prevent the most invasive type.

Wow! Sounds promising, right?

There has been a lot of noise surrounding the effectiveness of plant-based estrogens (e.g. soy isoflavones) for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. Some studies suggest they work and others, that they don’t. In fact, I do believe that the verdict is still out, although when used properly and in coordination with a licensed practitioner, they might very well be worth trying — much more so than health risk laden hormones. Moreover, if their use does actually reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, which is the exact opposite of hormone therapy, well, then I am all for them!

In this particular investigation, researchers examined how and when over 10,000 postmenopausal women were using herbs and any possible relationship to development of breast cancer. The findings? Women who used herbs had a 26% lower risk of ever developing invasive breast cancer than those who did not. That’s quite a bit, right?

The researchers are unclear why this may be. However, I’m certainly encouraged by the news, news that an herb a day may keep breast cancer away. Definitely inspired by the fact that a natural compound might both improve  menopausal symptoms and offer protection. Happy Wednesday!

[Note! Many oncologists recommend that women with estrogen-positive tumours or those who are prone to them avoid plant based estrogens. As always it is essential to speak to a practitioner before using any over the counter herbal preparation!]

Tender breasts and HRT – Do you need to worry?

Posted by Liz on Oct 16, 2009 in breast cancer | 2 comments

Yes, you do, according to UCLA researchers, who examined data from more than 16,000 postmenopausal women participating in the halted Women’s Health Initiative estrogen plus progestin trial. If you recall, this trial abruptly ended in 2002 when researchers learned that women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had a significantly increased risk for developing breast cancer.

In this latest study, which appeared in the October 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers took a closer look at the data to identify which factors, if any, could predict the possible development of breast cancer in women taking hormones. At the study’s start and every year until it was stopped, participants underwent mammography and were asked to do breast self-examinations. In addition to providing information on factors that might increase their breast cancer risk, they were also asked to to rate the degree of breast tenderness at the beginning of the trial and after one year.

Study findings showed the following:

• Women taking HRT who did not have any sort of breast tenderness at the study’s start had three times the risk of developing tender breasts at the one-year mark compared to women taking placebo.
• Breast tenderness at one year was associated with a 48% higher risk of developing invasive breast cancer than peers who never developed breast tenderness.

The researchers say that they are unclear about the reasons for this relationship and wonder if it might be possibly due to the fact that HRT causes breast tissue cells to multiply rapidly, thereby leading to more tenderness and an increased cancer risk. They also caution that the results just apply to this particular form of combination hormone therapy (which goes by the trade name Premarin®).

So, should you worry?

Emerging evidence continues to point clearly to a skewed risk benefit profile when it comes to hormone therapy, with risks outweighing any subjective benefits such as a decline in hot flashes, improved sleep or less vaginal dryness. It’s up to you to decide if you want to continue using hormones is you presently take them, or if you want to start HRT in the first place. And of course, if you are using hormones and develop breast tenderness, you should contact your practitioner as soon as possible to discuss your symptoms.

Ultimately, we all have control over certain factors in our health lives and don’t have control over others. Choose wisely.

Wednesday Bubble: red or white? Can wine choice affect breast cancer risk?

Posted by Liz on Oct 14, 2009 in breast cancer | 4 comments

Hey all you wine lovers out there! There’s encouraging news out of last month’s North American Menopause Society meeting: red wine may work in the body the same way that aromotase inhibitors (agents that are used to block the production of estrogen and halt breast cancer) do!

In this study, researchers assigned 36 pre-menopausal women to red wine first (cabernet savignon) and then white wine (chardonnay). Each participant drank 8 ounces of the wine in the evening with food, did not drive afterward (for safety) and agreed to avoid other alcoholic beverages or grape products. Each “treatment” lasted one menstrual cycle (~1month) and included a break to “wash” the body of the prior wine type. All participants had their blood collected during the early follicular (day 5-8) and mid-luteal (days 17-21) phases in the period just before the study and during the two “treatment” cycles.

The results showed that compared to white,  red wine significantly increased levels of freely circulating testosterone in the body and also led to lower levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and estradiol. In other words, this means that similar to aromatase inhibitors, red wine helped prevent testosterone from converting to estrogen, thereby leading to lower levels of estradiol and estrone, which in turn, would provide a means of starving an estrogen dependent tumor.

Although these findings are VERY preliminary, they do give hope that researchers might be on the cusp of realizing more natural ways to prevent breast cancer tumor growth. Let’s keep hope alive! Donate to breast cancer research.

Good health and cheers!

Wednesday Bubble: breast cancer during menopause- move your body

Posted by Liz on Oct 7, 2009 in breast cancer, exercise | 0 comments

[Credit: Stephen diFilipo, Fountain at the Gaylord Hotel, National Harbor ©2009. With permission]

October is National Breast Cancer month. In honor of family and friends who have survived breast cancer, I am dedicating this month’s Bubbles to posting choice bits of information about the topic this month. I admire these women greatly – for their strength, their tenacity and their hope. Rock on ladies!

Nothing like a bit of good news to kick off the month!

Early this year, I wrote about a study showing that exercise could help reduce breast cancer risk. Today’s post provides evidence that the timing and intensity of that activity makes a huge difference.

In this study, which appears in BioMed Central Cancer, researchers examined and compared the relationship of light physical activity to moderate to vigorous activity and its association to breast cancer risk in 118,699 women in menopause. Activity levels were studied during four periods of life: ages 15 to 18, ages 19 to 29, ages 35 to 39 and the past 10 years. Light activities included bowling, golf (riding in a cart), table tennis, slow walking/slow dancing, light calesthenics, light gardening, fishing, horseshoes/croquet and light housework. Moderate-to-vigorous activities included tennis, golf (walking), biking, swimming, heavy gardening, weight lifting, basketball/baseball, football/soccer, cheerleading/drill team, handball/raquetball, hiking/mountain climbing, fast walking/fast dancing, rowing, aeroboics, jogging/running and heavy housework.

The researchers found no association between activity intensity and breast cancer risk in the time periods leading up to menopause. However, Women engaging in more than 7 hours per week of  moderate to vigorous activity during the past 10 years had a significant, 16% lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who were inactive or only engaged in light activity. This benefit remained even when the researchers took factors such as age, body mass index, family history, or hormone use into consideration. The type of tumour cancer stage also had no effect.

Although researchers have been aware that a high versus low level of physical activity may protect against developing breast cancer during menopause, this is the first study to actually examine activity during other time periods and then compare them to more recent time periods.

Clearly, it’s time to move your body if you’ve not been doing so. A 16% reduction in breast cancer risk is significant.