Established in New Zealand in 2010, the Breast Health Foundation is a non profit charitable society created to include women and men around the world, in a “new conversation about breast health”.

We believe that the emphasis should shift from a focus on breast cancer and its treatment to a focus on how KEEPING HEALTHY WILL DECREASE THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU WILL EVER HAVE TO UNDERGO BREAST CANCER TREATMENT.

Our founding members include doctors, dentists, complementary health practitioners, health advocates, researchers and people like you.  We share in common the desire to educate and empower women and men towards a lifetime of optimal breast health.

• nutrition as medicine
• the role of lifestyle in keeping you well (exercise, stress reduction, etc.)
• The role of thoughts and emotions in maintaining health
• The role of the environment in your health
• The role of hormones in breast health and how you can maintain healthy hormonal balance through healthy choices
• Practical self-help information for maximizing your breast health
•  Analysis, explanation and critique of breaking breast health news
•  The knowledge that you are supporting an organization committed to promoting a scientifically based yet common sense message of breast health optimization, and breast cancer prevention.

If you share our vision, why not skip two coffees this week, and use the money to support the Breast Health Foundation in spreading our potentially lifesaving message.  By joining us, your small but vital financial contribution will help us to educate and empower you … And the women you love, towards a lifetime of breast health.

These are the changes to look for. If you are in any doubt what about what you see or find, please seek medical advice:

• A lump or thickening which is different to the rest of the breast tissue
• Continuous pain in one part of the breast or armpit
• One breast becomes larger or lower
• A rash on or around the nipple
• Discharge from one or both nipples
• A nipple becomes inverted or changes shape or position
• Skin changes including puckering or dimpling
• Swelling under the armpit or around the collarbone

Remember the breast health awareness six-point code:

• Know what is normal for you
• Look at and feel your breasts regularly
• Learn the correct breast self examination techniques
• Know what changes to look for
• Report any changes without delay

Consider thermography breast health screening at any age if you want a more thorough approach to monitoring your breast health

If you are concerned contact your health care provider or one of our recommended wholistic health professionals (recommended wholistic health professional page and hyperlink required).

Courtesy Jacqui Simcock, Naturopath and Medical Herbalist

Much of the breast cancer awareness emphasis revolves not around prevention, but rather early detection through regular mammographic screening.

And yet, we already know so much about the causes of this cancer.  Looking at global incidence gives us some very strong indicators that diet, lifestyle and environment are key factors in prevention.  Women in rural china have a breast cancer risk 5 to 6 times lower than western women, yet when they move to the west their incidence increases to that of their host country within 1 to 2 generations.

So, what do we do in the west that increases our risk so greatly?  Many features of typical western lifestyles increase oestrogen levels. With the stimulation of oestrogen feeding around 7 out of 10 breast cancers, this is highly significant.

Higher oestrogen levels result from obesity; lack of exercise; alcohol consumption; diets high in calories, meat, refined carbohydrates and sugars and low in fibre diet, and the use of antibiotics.  We also live in a toxic world polluted with well over 100,000 synthetic chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic or work like oestrogen once taken into our body.

There is much controversy over whether mammographic screening translates into lives saved, especially in pre-menopausal women.  Their denser breasts mean a high incidence of false positive and false negative readings.

Thermographic breast screening has been approved by the American FDA since 1982 and has since been the subject of numerous clinical trials involving over 300,000 women.  A mammogram can only detect a breast abnormality when a lump is present.  By detecting increases in breast heat, thermographic screening is able to detect precancerous breast changes up to ten years prior to a detectable lump.  Combined with mammograms, thermography increases reliability to around 95%, in women of all ages.

Thermograms involve no breast contact, compression or radiation and are safe for all women of all ages.

Top tips for reducing breast cancer risk

• Maintain a healthy body weight
• Exercise aerobically for 4 or more hours a week
• Drink less than 1 glass of alcohol daily
• Boost vitamin D levels with ten minutes of unprotected sun exposure daily, or supplements.
• Eat five plus servings of fruit and vegetables daily including brassica’s (cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage)
• Boost phytoestrogen intake through beans, lentils, miso, tempeh, flax seeds, bean sprouts, wholegrains
• Drink 4 or more cups of green tea daily
• Limit polyunsaturated fats containing omega 6, and boost omega 3 and 9 fats found in nuts and seeds, avocado, oily fish, flax and olive oil, and fish oil supplements 

Lynda Wharton is a registered acupuncturist and naturopath with 22 years experience in holistic women’s healthcare.  Lynda is also a health speaker, writer and researcher and the author of “Wellbeing – an essential guide to vibrant good health for women.  Reprinted from Health & Herbal News with permission of Health & Herbs International Ltd, New Zealand.

Brain: Higher IQ in breastfed children. Cholesterol and other types of fat in human milk support the growth of nerve tissue.

Eyes: Visual acuity is higher in babies fed human milk.

Ears: Breastfed babies get fewer ear infections.

Mouth: Less need for orthodontics in children breastfed more than a year. Improved muscle development of face from suckling at the breast. Subtle changes in the taste of human milk prepare babies to accept a variety of solid foods.

Throat: Children who are breastfed are less likely to require tonsillectomies.

Respiratory system: Evidence shows that breastfed babies have fewer and less severe upper respiratory infections, less wheezing, less pneumonia and less influenza.

Heart and circulatory system: Evidence suggests that breastfed children may have lower cholesterol as adults. Heart rates are lower in breastfed infants.

Digestive system: Less diarrhoea, fewer gastrointestinal infections in babies who are breastfeeding. Six months or more of exclusive breastfeeding reduces risk of food allergies. Also, less risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in adulthood.

Immune system: Breastfed babies respond better to vaccinations. Human milk helps to mature baby’s own immune system. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of childhood cancer.

Endocrine system: Reduced risk of getting diabetes.

Kidneys: With less salt and less protein, human milk is easier on a baby’s kidneys.

Appendix: Children with acute appendicitis are less likely to have been breastfed.

Urinary tract: Fewer infections in breastfed infants.

Joints and muscles: Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is less common in children who were breastfed.

Skin: Less allergic eczema in breastfed infants.

Growth: Breastfed babies are leaner at one year of age and less likely to be obese later in life.

Bowels: Less constipation. Stools of breastfed babies have a less-offensive odour. Reproduced from Dr Sears Family wellness education website

This question has stimulated controversy and debate for decades. A number of studies have suggested a connection between synthetic hormone use and breast cancer, while others have refuted any such link. Partly this is because both “the pill” and HRT come in a wide variety of different formulations containing varying amounts of synthetic estrogen and progestagen; progestagen alone (as the contraceptive mini pill) or estrogen alone as Estrogen Replacement Therapy.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) or Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) came quietly onto the pharmaceutical scene during the 1940′s. During the 1990′s, with the glut of baby boomers reaching mid life, the pharmaceutical industry recognised the potential for HRT to become a best seller. Marketing campaigns transformed our perception of the mid life woman into a “diseased” person, (suffering from estrogen deficiency!) and HRT was promoted as a virtual panacea for her hormonal ills. Not only would HRT stop your hot flushes and keep you calm, but it would also keep you slim, wrinkle free and sexually primed … according to the glossy pharmaceutical ads.Wyeth, manufacturers of Prempro and Premarin were experiencing annual sales of US$3 billion per year until the HRT bubble burst overnight in July 2002.

One arm of the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) trial was stopped prematurely when it became apparent that the risks of HRT use (more heart attacks, strokes, thrombosis and breast cancer) outweighed the benefits (fewer cases of fractures and colon cancer). Panic swept the globe as millions of women the world over abruptly stopped using HRT. The data showed that women who use combined HRT for more than five years face a 26% increased risk of breast cancer, and a 29% increased risk of heart attacks or other coronary events. Equally alarming was the realisation that the greatest risk of coronary events occurred in the first year of HRT use. The other arm of the study into unopposed estrogen (instead of combined estrogen and progestagen HRT) is continuing and has not yet detected an increased risk of breast cancer with estrogen only HRT.

Only women who have had a hysterectomy can use unopposed estrogen therapy because of the dramatic increase in the risk of endometrial cancer with ERT. A follow up study to the WHI study, in June 2003 concluded that “relatively short-term combined estrogen plus progestagen use increases incident breast cancers, which are diagnosed at a more advanced stage compared with placebo use, and also substantially increases the percentage of women with abnormal mammograms.”

These results suggest estrogen plus progestagen may stimulate breast cancer growth and hinder breast cancer diagnosis. Putting all the stats in perspective, a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association states that “the increased risk of estrogen/progestagen combination means that in 10,000 women taking the drug for a year, there will be 7 more coronary heart disease events, 8 more invasive breast cancers, 8 more strokes and 8 more pulmonary emboli, but 6 fewer colorectal cancers and 5 fewer hip fractures.”

Women who go through the menopause at an older age have an increased risk of breast cancer compared with women experiencing younger menopause. For every year over the age of 50 a women continues menstruating, her breast cancer risk increases by 1% which equates with the increased risk conferred by hormone replacement therapy.

Most of the studies to date have shown that the most significant increase in breast cancer risk is seen with women who have used hormone replacement therapy for 10 or more years. Using HRT for 5 – 10 years increases breast cancer risk by 50%, and 20 years of use doubles your risk of breast cancer (e.g. Increases risk by 100%). Synthetic hormones effect different breasts in different way. Approximately 3 in 10 women using HRT will have a noticeable increase in the density of their breast tissue.

This makes accurate mammographic screening more difficult.   It is clear that drinking too much alcohol will increase breast cancer risk, but the combination of HRT and alcohol may increase risk even more.   Two studies have found that if you’re on HRT, that delicious little tipple will send your blood estrogen levels soaring to three times their usual level, suggesting that HRT and alcohol are a risky combination for breast health. One of the “gold star” studies examining the relationship between HRT use and breast health was the “one million women” study. This English study involved over a million women (average age of 56 at onset of study) registered through NHS breast screening centres. They were each given a comprehensive questionaire covering a multitude of factors including HRT use and menstrual history. The study found that current use, but not past use of HRT was associated with an increased breast cancer incidence, and deaths from breast cancer.   Women taking combined HRT over the duration of the study were twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with women who had never used HRT. The women taking estrogen only therapy (ERT) were 30 percent more likely to develop cancer.

Over a 10 year period, the risk of breast cancer is four times greater in those taking combined HRT compared with the estrogen only forms of HRT. The study also showed that HRT increased the risk of breast cancer much earlier than previously thought, with increased risk evident after only 2 years of use. However, once women stopped using HRT their increased risk dropped back to a normal level within 1 to 5 years.   The risk of breast cancer was also seen to increase in direct proportion to the length of time that combined HRT was used. Also worrying was the discovery that women who develop breast cancer while using HRT were more likely to die of their cancer than non-users.

In summary the researchers stated that the use of HRT (estrogen only or combined) for 5 – 10 years from the age of 50, resulted in between 1 – 19 extra cases of breast cancer per 100,000 women. The huge variation in risk reflects the differences in preparations and duration of use of the drug. Extrapolating the study results to reflect risk to the whole of the UK population, gives a sobering insight into the link between HRT and breast cancer. Study author Valerie Beral points out that “twenty thousand extra breast cancer cases in the last decade in the UK are likely to be attributable to the use of HRT. Of these 15,000 are likely to be linked to the estrogen-progestagen combination”. Putting this increased risk into perspective, it is interesting to note that during the same time frame, obesity was probably responsible for 50,000 extra breast cancers, and alcohol consumption responsible for at least 16,000 breast cancers in UK.

(One Million Women Study, Lancet 2003; 362:419 – 427) From “Wellbeing” by Lynda Wharton

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Diana Binks is a television sports presenter and currently presents late night Sport on Five. Ten years ago Diana, found a lump in her left breast. Fortunately for Diana, it wasn’t cancer, but her experience made her much more conscious about her breast health.

In her early thirties at the time, Diana discovered the pea-sized lump by accident: “I thought maybe it was a hormonal thing – I wasn’t overly concerned and I left it for 6-9 months. During that time it grew bigger and other lumps started to appear. Eventually my partner noticed it too and prompted me to get it checked. Fortunately it was benign, just a cyst – a huge relief. It was only after the event that I can look back and realise how lucky I was. If it had been cancerous and I had left it for that long, the outcome would have been a lot more serious.

“I’m much more knowledgeable about my own breast health now and I regularly check my breasts, I know what they should feel like, I know what’s normal and what’s not. I’m a positive thinker but I’m much more alert to the issue. I think one of the reasons I didn’t act more promptly was because of my age, at the time I had no idea that it was the most common form of cancer in women under 35 –now I’m much more informed.

“When I heard about the Digital Infrared BreastScan from BreastHealth UK, I decided to try it for myself. It’s a new technology and it wasn’t available when I had my scare. When I had the mammogram all those years ago, it didn’t hurt but it was quite uncomfortable and cold and impersonal – lots of handling and prodding of my breast tissue. In contrast the Digital Infrared BreastScan was very comfortable, I just sat in a chair for 5-6 minutes with my hands clasped behind my head while cold air was blown onto my breasts. There was no need for my breasts to be touched at all and the whole consultation only took 15 minutes.
“Cancer can affect any woman regardless of whether or not they have a family history so it’s important for all women to be breast aware. My scare has changed my perspective – it’s opened my eyes. My advice to any friend, family member or colleague would be to seek professional advice as soon as possible – don’t leave it.”

Dina concludes: “The key thing for all women, regardless of age, is to get to know their breasts, check them regularly and be aware – don’t ignore anything out of the ordinary, however small.”

An article from BreastHealth UK
http://www.breasthealthuk.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=285

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While there have been some conflicting studies, there is enough convincing evidence to strongly suggest that regular aerobic exercise is an important part of any breast cancer prevention or recovery program. Exercise is thought to reduce breast cancer risk in several different ways. Teenage girls who exercise regularly tend to start menstruating later than their sedentary peers, and age at menarche is an established risk factor for breast cancer. The earlier a girl begins menstruating, the greater is her total life time exposure to estrogen, and consequently her breast cancer risk.

A few studies have also suggested that regular exercise may lower a womans estrogen levels, thus reducing her risk of breast cancer. Exercise also helps to minimise weight gain with aging, and adult weight gain, and being overweight as an adult are both risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. Exercise also stimulates the immune system in ways which may enhance the body’s ability to detect and destroy cancer cells.

What remains unclear is whether exercise is more beneficial for breast cancer prevention, during adolescence, during adulthood or throughout a womans entire life. That said, there is some valid evidence that teenage girls who are physically active have a lower incidence of breast cancer later in life, when compared with their sedentary peers. In 2004 the European Journal of Cancer Prevention published a review of research investigating the link between exercise and breast cancer rates in teenagers and young adults. They found that the most physically active women reduced their breast cancer risk by 20% compared with their more sedentary peers.

The study authors said that for every hour of exercise performed by an adolescent each week, their risk of breast cancer declined by 3%. Studies examining the exercise/breast cancer link in older women have predominantly produced similar results. One such large study involving 74,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79 was published in a 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association. In response to their results, study authors concluded that “increased physical activity is associated with reduced risk for breast cancer in post menopausal women, longer duration provides most benefit, and that such activity need not be strenuous”. (Women’s Health Initiative Cohort Study, Anne McTiernan et al JAMA 2003; 290: 1331 – 1336). Similarly good news for post menopausal exercisers came in the form of the largest prospective study looking at the association between exercise and breast cancer risk. They found that women with the greatest leisure time activity had nearly a 40% reduced risk of breast cancer, and that the risk reduction was greatest for pre-menopausal women, especially under the age of 45. The lowest breast cancer risk was found in lean woman who exercised more than 4 hours a week. (Thune I, et al; New England Journal of Medicine 1997; 336: 1269- 1275).

So how much exercise do you need for breast health? To reap significant cancer protective benefits aim for 4 or more hours of aerobic exercise a week. Women who exercise this much during their reproductive years are shown to reduce their risk of breast cancer by up to a massive 58%. Brisk walking, jogging, cycling, playing racquet sports, swimming and working out on the cardio machines at the gym all qualify as aerobic activity. It’s also worth noting that even if you have had breast cancer and are in recovery, the benefits of exercising remain convincing, despite the fact that in reality most women with a breast cancer diagnosis decrease their level of physical activity by an average of 2 hours per week.

Almost all studies show beneficial effects of exercise in women with breast cancer both during and after cancer treatment. Women with breast cancer who exercise regularly report improved body image and self esteem, reduced nausea during chemotherapy, and fewer problems with depression, fatigue and insomnia. Post menopausal women who are overweight increase their breast cancer risk, partly due to the estrogen producing properties of fat. Similarly, women who have had breast cancer increase their chances of survival through weight loss and control, a vital component of which is regular exercise. From “Wellbeing” By Lynda Wharton

It has been estimated that more than 80 percent of breast cancer cases are associated with environmental factors that include exposure to contaminants, lifestyle, and diet. There is considerable international concern that some of the 70,000 synthetic chemicals in our environment today may be directly linked to a large percentage of breast cancer cases, but there are no epidemiological studies to determine this. It has been observed that breast cancer incidence in Western countries has paralleled the proliferation of synthetic chemicals since World War II, and that as developing countries take up industrial agricultural practices their breast cancer rates escalate similarly.

Meriel Watts’ book offers a comprehensive assessment of the available evidence. The introductory chapters discuss the broader issues and subsequent chapters discuss the many chemicals in the environment that affect breast cancer risk in laboratory studies and are likely to similarly affect people. It identifies 98 pesticides, one adjuvant and two contaminants that may be implicated in the global breast cancer epidemic, and provides evidence that 42 pesticides still in use in New Zealand may be contributing to the risk of breast cancer. The thorough review of these pesticides in the book make it a particularly useful resource book.

“Scientifically it is impossible to prove that a particular pesticide does or does not cause breast cancer. It never will be proven. Regrettably this does not mean that the pesticides aren’t causing breast cancer,” says Dr Watts. “It is vital that the government develops a specific breast cancer strategy which recognises the role of synthetic chemicals in breast cancer, and includes testing of New Zealand women for body burdens of chemicals linked to breast cancer – and lastly and most importantly adopts a precautionary approach to chemicals for which there is evidence of a link with breast cancer, ensuring their replacement with safer alternatives.”

by Dr Meriel Watts