Breast Cancer Screening, Prevention, and Alternative Approaches in the Modern World
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the U.S. It accounts for nearly 32 percent of all female cancers. Based on rates from 2005 to 2007, the National Cancer Institute reports that 1 out of every 8 women born today will be diagnosed with cancer of the breast at some time during their lifetime. As a woman ages, her chances of developing breast cancer dramatically increase, with approximately 77 percent of the cases occurring in women over the age of 50.
Caucasian, Hawaiian, and African American women have the greatest incidence of invasive breast cancer, and statistics show that these women are nearly four times higher than the lowest group including Korean, American Indian and Vietnamese women.
Breast cancers, as well as other cancers, develop at a cellular level over a period of many years or decades before the cancer is large enough to be identified using modern imaging techniques. Research indicates that breast cancer can be affected by lifestyle changes even though genetic markers BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been implicated in three to five percent of breast cancers.
Researchers suggest that increased abdominal body fat distributions, hormonal disruptors from our environment, and increased weight at the age of 30 are contributing factors to breast cancer. These three factors have lead a change in the onset of menstruation from 16.5 years old in 1842 to 13 years in 1995 and to 11 or 12 years in the year 2003 which parallels an increase in breast cancer onset later in life.
Breast cancer rates show a strong correlation between the urinary ratio of 2-hydroxy (E1-Estrone +E2-Estradiol + E3-Estriol) to 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone. This noninvasive urine test identifies the 2/16 ratio that is used to estimate the risk of developing breast cancers later in life. Considerable evidence indicates that this ratio is relevant as a risk factor for estrogen-sensitive diseases such as breast and cervical cancers, osteoporosis, and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.
Simple steps can be taken to help prevent breast cancer. First, evaluating the 2/16 urinary ratio indicates the developmental risk of breast cancer. Second, a gentle exercise program during a woman’s adolescent and adult years can reduce the incidence of breast cancer by nearly 40% according to the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study. Third, eliminating estrogen hormone disruptors from both synthetic and natural sources will decrease the accumulation of estrogenic toxins that disrupt liver detoxification pathways.
Estrogenic hormone disruptors include plastics, dioxins, PCBs, DDT, and soy to name a few. Fourth, maintaining a healthy weight and body mass index will decrease abdominal fat distribution, which leads to increased estrogen activity. Fifth, consuming cruciferous vegetables daily have been shown to increase Phase I and Phase II liver detoxification pathways, and help to improve the 2/16 ratio which has been shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer.
To evaluate you 2/16 ratio, or to talk to Dr. Chase Hayden about the complementary and alternative approaches you can take to support your body nutritionally, contact The Hayden Institute by clicking here.