Breast Cancer Prevention

Breast Health Tips for Women:
Early Intervention Strategies in Preventing Breast Cancer

In Canada one in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life and the incidence of the disease is rising each decade. In the 1940’s the risk was one in twenty. If we increase our awareness of the causes of this disease and start early with prevention strategies we can help to protect ourselves, our daughters and future generations from breast cancer. Examine the tips below and change what you can each month. 

Lifestyle

  • Spend an hour a week in the sauna to eliminate chemicals stored in your fat cells. Do an 80 hour sauna detox program before you plan to have children so you don’t pass on your body burden of chemicals on to the next generation.
  • Exercise at least 40 minutes each day.
  • Sleep in a dark room, and keep electrical devices at least 3 feet from your bed. Use a night light in the washroom, and avoid turning on a bright light at night.
  • Meditate, or do slow long deep breathing exercises for at least 11 minutes before bed to increase melatonin levels.
  • Take regular relaxation breaks every 2-3 hours throughout the day for about 20 minutes to alleviate stress.
  • Switch to non-toxic cleaning products, like baking soda and vinegar.
  • Avoid cosmetics unless they are free of chemicals and preservatives.
  • Drink filtered water, with the chlorine and pesticides removed from it.
  • Drink water stored in glass rather than plastic. The plastic often leaches chemicals that act like the hormone estrogen.
  • Maintain an appropriate weight. Seek help to lose weight if required.
  • Seek a dentist who will use porcelain fillings in your teeth. Avoid mercury amalgam fillings.
  • Do not use the birth control pill, but consider barrier methods.
  • Use a looser cotton bra rather than an underwire bra. Avoid tight bras.

Dietary

  • Use 30 grams of fibre each day to ensure at least 2 bowel movements a day – add 2 Tbsp. bran to your breakfast cereal, eat legumes daily, use more whole grains, less bread.
  • Add 2 Tbsp. of freshly ground flaxseeds daily to your cereal, juice or fruit smoothie. (Use an electric coffee grinder to grind them).
  • Use 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
  • Eat some raw broccoli, cauliflower, kale or cabbage daily.
  • Eat organic food whenever possible.
  • Decrease meat consumption, replacing it with legumes and soy.
  • Decrease dairy consumption, replacing it with organic soy products.
  • Minimize fish consumption unless you know it is free of chemicals and heavy metals. Salmon is an excellent choice.
  • Use extra virgin oil for cooking. If you are frying, use a little water first, before adding the olive oil. Minimize other oils and fats except coconut oil.
  • Minimize sugar, sweets, pastries and desserts, using fresh fruit instead.
  • Spice your food with turmeric regularly.
  • Use onions and garlic with gusto.
  • Use 2 Tbsp. of seaweed daily (nori-sheet, dulse powder) or use a kelp tablet daily.
  • Store your food in glass or stainless steel, rather than plastic.
  • Avoid canned food when the cans are lined with clear or white plastic – this is bisphenol-A, which acts like estrogen and stimulates breast cells to divide.

Supplements

  • Use a multivitamin daily that contains 100-200 mcg of selenium and at least 30 mg of zinc.
  • Supplement with calcium citrate, magnesium citrate and vitamin D daily, with about 800 mg of calcium.
  • Take a total of about 2000IU of Vit D a day.
  • Use 2000 mg of Vitamin C daily. This will help prevent the accumulation of toxic metals, and improve immunity.
  • If you are unable to eat 8 servings of fruits and vegetables, use 1 Tbsp. daily of a green powdered supplement, rich in carotenes and protective plant nutrients.

Environmental

  • Encourage your partner and/or neighbors to discontinue pesticide use on lawns and gardens.
  • Use fewer electrical devices so we rely less on nuclear power. Conserve energy.
  • Spend less time on the computer or watching television, to decrease exposure to electromagnetic fields.
  • Avoid products containing PVC (polyvinyl chloride), such as raincoats, shower curtains, vinyl furniture.
  • Use alternatives to plastic.
  • Take cloth bags or bins shopping to avoid using plastic bags.
  • Find out who the polluters are in your area by logging on to www.pollutioncontrol.org and write letters of lobby to decrease local pollutants.
  • Host an environmental film festival each year to educate yourselves and others.
  • Celebrate Rachel Carson Day, May 27 each year by doing what you can to protect the environment on that day. Clean up your little corner of the earth.

Psychological

  • Find ways to express your anger constructively and let it go. If you have a backlog of anger, seek counseling.
  • Invest your energy in activities, hobbies, volunteer work or causes you feel excited about that develop your skills and abilities.
  • Learn to define your needs and develop assertiveness.
  • Connect with groups of like-minded individuals throughout your life who support and validate you.
  • Find a spiritual practice that connects you to others and to the universal energy or God and use that practice or worship to strengthen faith, hope and love.
  • Resolve conflict as it occurs, rather than holding it inside you, or let it go.

These suggestions are outlined in more detail in the book The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer, by Sat Dharam Kaur, ND, published by Robert Rose Inc. in 2003.

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement

The pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women have been hotly debated for many years. As a naturopathic physician, I’ve helped women navigate the choppy waters of menopause for over two decades. I believe that hormone management should be very individualized, and generally practice a philosophy of lifestyle first, natural medicines second and pharmaceuticals third, if possible. I recently completed a course that analyzed the research on HRT over the last 20 years. When you look carefully at the research, there is a role for hormone replacement therapy not only to help to safely and effectively manage symptoms of menopause but also as a preventative medicine. 

First a bit of history. HRT was used for 70 years before the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) did the first large placebo controlled study on it in 2002. This groundbreaking study sounded some alarms regarding increased breast cancer risk in the women who took Premarin (estrogen) and Provera (synthetic progesterone).  In addition they found a higher rate of blood clots, which can cause strokes and more. As a result, many women were taken off HRT at that time. 

Then subsequent analysis determined that the study had some major flaws. The average age of the women starting estrogen therapy was 65. We now understand that there is a critical window for starting hormone therapy to maximize the benefits and reduce the risks, which is within 10 years of one’s menopause, or under 60 years of age. 

Secondly, the type of estrogen they used was extracted from pregnant mares’ urine and contained non-human estrogens. Now almost all prescriptions written use a bioidentical estrogen called estradiol or E2. It is processed much differently in the body and has less risks. The progesterone used was a synthetic cousin of our progesterone called progestin, which has many more side effects. Thirdly, the route of administration of estrogen matters. Yes, taking oral pills of estrogen does increase blood clotting especially in women over 60. But using a patch or cream on the skin does not do so in any significant way. We’ve come a long way from 2002 to understand how to use estrogen safely. 

According to the North American Menopause Society, estrogen has strong evidence showing that it helps with hot flashes, and night sweats. They say it can be used for women of any age in very low doses locally for genital and urinary symptoms and to improve sexual function. Systemic estrogen also helps to prevent bone loss and fracture associated with osteoporosis. The research shows that this benefit is most relevant if estrogen is started within five years of menopause and the benefit is lost after ceasing the estrogen. Estrogen therapy can slightly reduce cardiovascular disease risk but only if started early.  

To me, the most interesting evidence regarding estrogen replacement therapy is around reducing cognitive decline. One in three people develop significant cognitive decline in their lifetime, and ⅔ of the people with Alzheimer’s are women. Estrogen has many protective effects on the brain, including increasing neuronal growth and repair, increasing neuroplasticity, decreasing build up of tau proteins and amyloid plaques (associated with Alzheimer’s) and much more. Estrogen seems to help slow cognitive decline, not reverse it. One study showed that women who started estrogen at 75 years old had a worse rate of decline. So yes, there is a critical window for starting estrogen. Women who have their ovaries removed may especially benefit from starting estrogen therapy right away. 

There is some evidence showing that estrogen may help with joint pain, muscle weakness, sleep issues, depression, skin laxity, dry eyes, hearing loss and diabetes. But what about breast cancer? Well, after years of analysis of the WHI study, it has been shown that when they gave horse estrogen and synthetic progestin to women far beyond the critical age window in oral vs transdermal doses, after three years, there was an increase of less than one case of breast cancer over the placebo rate per 1,000 women per year that could be attributed to the hormones. That risk is less than the increased risk of breat cancer associated with drinking two glasses of wine a day, and the same as the risk of being obese or inactive. In women who took only estrogen (women who’d had a hysterectomy), there was a slight decrease in breast cancer rate vs. placebo. Three French studies showed that when estrogen is used with women in a better age window, and coupled with bioidentical progesterone there was no increase in breast cancer rates.  

So the bottom line is that bioidentical estrogen with bioidentical progesterone can have a role to play in the management of symptoms of menopause and possibly to enhance the aging process along with a healthy lifestyle. It’s not for everyone, so discuss it with a doctor who is up to date on the latest research analysis to see if you would be a candidate. For people without extended health insurance, compounding pharmacies can make up HRT prescriptions for about ⅓ to ½ the cost of 1pharmaceutical suppliers, so be sure to let your naturopathic doctor or medical doctor know your preference. Another advantage of compounded bioidentical hormones is that there are a variety of delivery methods that can be used depending on the desired effects and preference of the patient. Transdermal absoption of hormones has been well established in scientific research.