Avastin, a cancer drug that was a hopeful for breast cancer treatment when it got in its more advanced stages, is apparently showing promise for another type of female cancer. Ovarian cancer patients saw about four months added to the time it usually takes for ovarian cancer to progress into very serious territory.
Basically, the drug may not actually save lives, but may extend them further beyond what they currently span when ovarian cancer reaches the point of no return, so to speak. Because of this though, it may have further implications in treating various female types of cancer on the market, and may be studied further to see if it has any therapeutic benefit.
In a seemingly converse twist, the women who paired Avastin with the other cancer therapies they were on for their ovarian cancer in the study did not live any longer than the women that did not take Avastin in addition. This begs the question, why even bother with the additional drug if it did not, as an end result, extend the actual lives of the women?
Not to mention, what should really be looked at with these drugs is whether they are extending the life, or the progression of the disease while also increasing the quality of life? If they are not, and they are merely extending an existence of pain and suffering, then one must ask, is this really right?
If you recall, we discussed Avastin not too long ago as it related to breast cancer treatment. The FDA recently revoked its previous approval for complementary breast cancer treatment due to significant health risks.
These health risks imposed on women who had avanced breast cancer were simply not worth the less than stellar results the drug had on extending their lives. The risks had to do with perforations found in the intestines that were linked to the drug which could potentially be life threatening, and add yet another health problem onto women already beleagured with health issues stemming from the cancer and all the medications they are on – all of which have serious side effects.
As you can tell, I take a fairly mistrustful stance on many medical establishment status quos when it comes to medications and treatments for such serious ailments as cancer. I think it takes a very critical eye to really figure out what works, and what is really forced on us as being the only potential treatment for these cancers, which scare the heck out of people.
Posted in Breast Health by .
I know we’ve been harping away at this big news story about the french company that sold thousands of faulty implants many of which were unfortunately implanted in a lot of patients. But this stuff needs to be aired out so it can ensure that no other companies will be able to pull off such a widespread scandal and hurt so many women potentially as this has.
The governments of the countries where women are most affected by the dangerous implants have actually offered to pay for women to get the implants removed if they choose to do so. However, on of the government bodies, Venezuela’s in fact, is saying they will pay for their removal if patients are worried, but they will not pay for their replacement.
In other words, the women who had the implants can get them removed, but they have to pay for the implants to be put back in, which may amount to just as much money as it did anyway had they paid for the entire thing themselves.
To remove the implants costs one amount, but it is a whole ‘nother procedure to get the implants replaced, and I think that is where the government is stopping short. I can see why, as they cannot send the message that they will pay for plastic surgery to improve one’s appearance, but they can pay to remove something hazardous from their citizen’s bodies.
However, I can also see this from the patients end as well. If I had these faulty breast implants in my body, I’d sure as heck want someone who is responsible (there are also companies that sold these to women as middle men) to actually pay for a replacement as well.
You get used to having breast implants, and it’s not all that fair if suddenly because some manufacturer screwed up, you have to have them yanked out. It becomes a matter of equity – they should be “made whole” by the wrong that was done to them, and this offer is really only doing half the job.
Sure, it’s all legal ease, but I guarantee that’s the angle these women’s lawyers will be taking, and that they should in order to make their clients whole again.
Posted in Implant News by .
Jan 12
16
More on the Toxic Implant Scandal
Remember that scandal that broke where thousands of woman potentially have a toxic time bomb in their bodies thanks to a French breast implant company that put industrial (not medical) grade silicone in their breast implants to save money?
Well, there’s apparently more to the story as we’re now finding out, and it appears the faulty implants have been on the market quite a long time which is surprising considering these are devices that go into people’s bodies.
The company, which goes by the acronym PIP (Poly Implants Prostheses) had apparently received numerous complaints from regulators and concerned surgeons and clinics years before this recent story broke into the mainstream.
The implants apparently not only contained the wrong grade of silicone, which has its own problems in and of itself, but they also were more likely to break in the body, which is a concern that went unheeded after reported.
This does not look good for the French company. It’s one thing when a company did not know its products could cause harm to people, but when a company knows there is a higher likelihood of harm and simply asks that it be concealed, that puts them into a whole new light in the public, as well as legal eye.
It appears the company was deceiving several entities, including its own insurance company. While this seems shocking, it’s also alarming to know how long this went on and that it is all just now coming into the public’s awareness.
If you think about this one incident, and how many more incidents with breast implants there may be that we don’t know about, it makes you consider breast implant alternatives as an option if you were thinking about doing it, that’s for sure.
Going under the knife is a big enough deal without throwing in the potential to have a toxic product being implanted into your body, or the complications that could results in thousands more dollars being spent to correct or rectify.
And we don’t even know the long term effects or dangers yet of the commercial grade silicone used in these implants.
Posted in Breasts in the News by .
Lindsey Lohan’s much ballyhooed Playboy spread ended up being a letdown to some of her fans. Why? Because the hot mess of a star was airbrushed to death like all the other beautiful, busty women who are featured in the men’s magazine, much to the disappointment of their fan base which has been dwindling for years.
Of course, their membership has been dwindling because the plethora of naked women shown on the internet for free, but also there is speculation that a lot of avid male and female readers are tired of looking at one airbrushed body after another. They need to keep it real and start showing these beautiful women in all their glory – flaws and all.
I mean, isn’t THAT what is really sexy about the human form? Not women who all are made to look like some semblance of a cartoon because of so much makeup caked on? To me, they all look like they are the same person, only vaguely morphed into some new costume or a somewhat different twist on their makeup.
Lindsey Lohan’s spread features her in traditional fifties bombshell “suicide blonde” hair, with brigh tred lips and deeply colored eyes. I guess you can see some of her freckles, which is refreshing, but sheesh, can’t they at least show us a little more realistic appeal?
I know this is riduculous coming from a woman, but I feel that I sort of understand the male psyche about what is truly sexy, and I think Playboy has missed the mark on truly sexy for a while now. Hefner must be giving in to the modern guys on his staff, because you know he’s gotta be old school!
With the economy in the dumper the way it’s been for the past couple of years, women are looking for less expensive and more natural ways to increase their breast size. While there are plenty of products on the market that can help to enhance the beauty and perkiness and firmness of the breasts, there are a few that can really help to increase their size naturally.
There are two families of products when it comes to natural breast enhancement products, which are usually sold as supplements since one must really take a supplement in order to initiate the biological changes within their body to make their breasts grow.
2 Types of Natural Breast Enhancement Supplements :
Herbal : Herbal pills are by far the most popular because they can be very cost effective. These are often filled with herbs and vitamins that have some sort of estrogenic effect on the body. They are also called phytoestrogens. These active plant chemicals travel about the body and interact with the thousands of other natural biological hormones and chemicals in the body as estrogens would.
For this reason, they can also increase the size of the breasts – making them fuller and sometimes even tender during the process. These types of products can also come in tandem with an enhancing cream to help externally increase firmness and increase circulation to help the breasts lift and appear larger from the outide as well.
Herbal breast enhancers can work very well on some women, and on others they can fall flat – it’s a matter of experimentation really. Then there is another kind of natural breast enhancement supplement that is fundamentally different in that it uses an animal-based technology to naturally enhance breast size.
Non Herbal Breast Enhancement – This primarily consists of a product called Bountiful Breast, which is a non-herbal therapy that is designed to increase breast size gradually, over a period of anywhere from 4-9 months by using a therapy that stimulates certain glands in the body which are responsible for breast growth.
This can take time, but also women have reported that they feel a difference right away. The regimen is often supported with protein shakes, which help to increase the effectiveness of the breast enhancing properties of the supplement taken. Also, it is recommended you supplement with another common, inexpensive supplement you can find anywhere else to really add bang for your buck and get great results.
For more info on this product see our Bountiful Breast Forum and Review.
Posted in Natural Breast Enhancement & Enlargement by .
I’ve heard so many women, including friends, coworkers and family members who have had a scare with breast cancer. It seems like the older you get, the more likely you are to have one, and more women I know who are past fifty have had a scare at one point or another.
A “scare” can range anywhere from simply feeling something you feel might be a lump, bump or mass in the vicinity of the breast, to you going in, having the doctor feel something or see something, and having to get it biopsied. Neither one feels too good, and you feel anxious until it is proven to be a false alarm.
I actually had a scare a couple years ago myself, and I’m only in my mid thirties now. I had this small hard bump that I started to notice just because I was running my hands over that part for something. I thought to myself it could just be an odd part of my sternum sticking up that I just hadn’t noticed before, because quite frankly that’s what it felt like it could be – bone.
But then I started to get in my head about it, and started to wonder if it really was something. I even had my then-boyfriend, now-husband feel it so see what he thought. It was not even really on my breasts at all, but higher up on my chest, so I couldn’t tell if I was just being crazy about it or not.
So, rather safe than sorry, I ended up going to the Doctor I always see for things like this where I work, which is really convenient and I thank my lucky stars I have that. She concluded that it was simply my sternum, but she was glad that I came in to have her check it out because she said often times women don’t do that because they think they’re imagining it or that it could never happen to them.
As a woman from a family with breast cancer in the female side, I really wanted to use precaution over my pride, so I’m glad I went. In the end, all I was out was a little worry, and a small copay 
Posted in Breast Health by .
Jan 12
5
French Breast Implant Warning
The arm of the government in France that deals with health and medical devices, sort of like our FDA here in the US, has issued a warning to French women who received a particular brand of silicone breast implant recently that they may want to get screenings.
They even said the women may want to get the implants removed as a precaution due to the health issue these particular implants may cause. And what is that issue you ask? These implants were illegally manufactured with a grade of silicone that is not surgical or medical grade, but rather manufacturer grade.
In other words, the silicone used to make them was not considered “safe” for human consumption or contact. This means that it could potentially cause cancer, possibly some sort of immune response or nervous system response, or other yet-unknown interactions with the human body that we don’t know about that would become evident if they ever leaked – which they often do as they break down in the body over time.
Silicone is typically an industrial grade material that makes everything from sealants to car parts. It is a very flexible material that feels soft and pliable, which is the reason it was used as both the shell and filling for breast implants for women who wanted a softer feel to them than the saline ones that are on the market and widely available.
The problem arose of course, when women started to report back in the late nineties that they were having problems with these types of implants. Silicone was implicated in autoimmune and nervous system health issues.
Women claimed that their implants essentially caused their ailments, and this prompted an FDA review and subsequent ban on this type of implant from the open market.
Silicone was still allowed to be used in certain reconstructive surgeries though, and continued to be available for women who needed reconstruction of one or more breasts because of its extremely flexible pliability and realistic appearance and feel.
Regular silicone has been allowed back on the market, but of course only cosmetic grade can be used in implants, which is why these French implants are not safe nor healthy.
Health officials have told women that have them they may want to get them removed, but it is not necessary nor cause for immediate concern, just as an FYI since removing breast implants is a very costly procedure. The company that made the commercial grade silicone implants is now insolvent.
Posted in Breasts in the News Implant News by .
Jan 12
1
Happy New Year
HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS!!!! What is your new years resolution? Come on, don’t pretend like you don’t have one. We know you do, even if you’re not willing to tell it. Let’s face it, one of the reasons we don’t set resolutions for ourselves is because we are afraid we will let ourselves down.
Or, if we actually say the resolution out loud, we are afraid other people will know we didn’t stick to it, or they will think it’s shallow, or weird, or just plain silly. Well, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, you should have some sort of resolution every year.
And it doesn’t always need to be getting to the gym more and losing weight Matter of fact, maybe you should specifically make the rule that you can’t have the same new year’s resolution twice in a row.
This way, you can round them out and diversify your goals a little more. This also gives you an opportunity to get to know yourself better. Your strengths, your weaknesses, and your inner most desires.
Let’s say thanks for a great 2011 and have hopes for the new year 2012.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
E! News correspondent Guiliana Rancic, formerly Depandi, has made news several times lately for her battle against breast cancer. She’s young, so it’s always a shock when women younger than fifty five have breast cancer, but it’s actually more common than people think, we just don’t catch it until later stages because of higher rates of checkups and mammograms.
The whole reason Mrs. Rancic even had a mammogram and hence the breast cancer was detected is that she was seeing a fertility doctor in an effort to get pregnant when it was discovered. Her fertility doctor needed to make sure 100% that she didn’t have any hormonally fueled cancer before he started treating her with more hormones.
So needless to say, she was shocked most likely. We all would be if we were diagnosed with this cancer before the age of 40. Her decision was to go with a double mastectomy to make sure the cancer was totally gone.
It is not clear whether both of her breasts tested positive for cancer or not, but I suppose that doesn’t really matter since it’s a totally individual decision to get something this intensely personal done to make sure the breast cancer is eradicated.
She opted to get both breasts removed and to have instant reconstructive surgery afterward. Her husband Bill Rancic, who was the winner of one of Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” shows and ran a cigar shop business, seems to have a sense of humor about it all.
She talked recently about how they went to decide what type of new breasts she was getting, and she was joking that her hubby opted for bigger. Gee, what a shock!
In all seriousness, what do you think about double mastectomies? It’s a scary thing for women to undergo and takes a lot of courage to say yes to it. The surgeons we have nowadays and the options for reconstruction of the breast after removal are pretty awesome, so that’s one thing we have really working in our favor as survivors of breast cancer.
We’re pulling for your Giuliana! You’re a brave woman, and I’m sure they will come out looking fannnntastic!
Posted in Celebrity Breasts by .
It is easy to think that mammograms save lives when so many women espouse their belief that the mammogram saved their life because it detected their breast cancer much earlier on than say a self breast exam would have.
But I just read a very interesting perspective from another specialist who says that mammograms may not actually save as many lives from breast cancer metastatis as you would think – when you look at it his way at least.
Keep an open mind, I’m sure this is just the beginning of our understandings of this potentially deadly disease, and we are only now beginning to crack the codes on various types of cancer to begin with.
One perspective is that mammograms do detect breast cancer very early, however, many of these extremely early detections may actually be for breast cancers that are not very agressive, are very slow growing, and may have never come to a point where they would be life threatening.
In other words, many women may carry the seeds for potential breast cancer, but the cancer cells in their breasts are so slow growing that they likely would not be a threat to their lives. His take is that these very early detections of non-agressive cancer cells may actually lead to unnecessary treatment as well as unnecessary biopsies and partial masectomies in women as well.
In other words, perhaps women are being scared into getting therapies that, themselves are dangerous to our health such as chemotherapy and radiation, when they are told they have very early breast cancer. They may be getting these treatments, which can lead to other health issues, when in fact their breast cancer would likely have never grown out of control or ever even become symptomatic.
However, many consider that big “if”. It’s a very controversial view of course, but if you take a step back and really examine it, it has a lot of valid points and if you keep an open mind it is definitely something to contemplate and consider.
Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by .
While there are several types of foods you can eat to help sustain and enhance the health of your breasts and to help avoid the likelihood of breast cancer in every lifestyle way you can (there is always a genetic component unfortunately in this type of cancer), there are also several types of foods to avoid or severely minimize in your daily diet if you can help it.
These foods are the biggest contributors to what many consider carcinogenic factors in the diet. They have usually been proven in one way or another to help trigger abnormal cell growth, irritate the cells in certain areas of the body, or simply have DNA mutating capabilities that should be cautioned against.
Foods to Avoid if You Want Healthy Breasts :
1.) Anything in cans or any processed foods. Canned foods contain a lining with BPA, or bisphenol A, a chemical that is used in plastic linings. You should especially avoid canned tomatoes, as the acidity in the tomatoes leeches this dangerous chemical into your food even more. Bisphenol A is linked to hormonal disruption and unsafe increases in synthetic estrogens.
2.) Microwave popcorn – This handy food may seem healthy, especially if it is of the light variety, but it actually gives off toxic chemicals and is not safe when consumed in high qualities according to some health experts.
3.) French fries and other cooked potatoes. Potato chips, french fries and other potato-based foods that are cooked at extremely high temperatures give off a chemical called acilymide. This chemical has shown carcinogenic properties.
4.) Transfats – Avoid any food rich in transfats as these are not good for your tissues, including breast tissue. Avoid anything with ingredients that say partially hydrogenated. This means that the fats used in the product are transfats, a cheaper version of fat that is used to increase shelf life of products and to increase the flavor.
5.) Sugars. Sugar has been shown to increase cancer cell growth. It is essentially a fuel for many types of cancer as it promotes inflammation and also promotes spikes and drops in the blood sugar, which can promote cancer.
6.) Saturated fats. These types of fats have been shown to increase the likelihood not only of heart trouble, but also are linked to increased risk of several types of cancer. Unsaturated fats, such as the kind found in almonds, walnuts, fish, and grass fed beef, are healthy, and should be consumed.
Posted in Breast Health by .
How many times do we have to see before and after pictures of actresses and women in the public spotlight accompanied by the question “did she or didn’t she?” before we say we’ve had enough? Why can’t a woman just go and get herself some plastic surgery without being the subject of ridicule and speculation?
Sure, these women have often chosen to be in the public eye, but does anyone really deserve to be pondered over that much and criticized, made fun of or judged for her choices about her own body? Not that long ago LeAnn Rimes was the subject of tabloid speculation for an eating disorder due to her thinner than normal frame.
She was dogged by questions about it, and also about her divorce and subsequent hook up with a married costar. Maybe she was going through some stress. Now with new pictures surfacing of the singing star in a tight dress sporting seemingly new, never before seen curves, there is speculation that the formerly flatter chested star has gotten breast augmentation surgery.
And so what if she has gotten herself some breast implants? Is it not the right of every person to tend to their bodies as they see fit? If she wasn’t happy with her body the way it was, what is so bad about getting a little help from the plastic surgeon? It’s just that when it goes to extremes that it becomes problematic.
And even then, it’s still none of anyone’s business except maybe that person and her family. Actresses are always under so much more intense media scrutiny than actors are. Sure, a guy might be targeted if it looks like he’s had facial surgery, but the media really tends to focus on women and what they’ve had done.
It’s no wonder these women feel so much intense pressure to be pefect when they notice how much the media is noticing their appearance, and how much the public is obviously eating up the stories about their appearance.
Posted in Celebrity Breasts by .
The breast cancer drug often used as a last resort called “Avastin” has finally been formally recalled by the FDA. The FDA had previously approved the drug for breast cancer that was not responding to other more conventional treatments. It has now come to the conclusion that Avastin presents too many other health risks, and presents no clearly definable extension of life in breast cancer patients to remain on the market as an option.
This is not without the protest of some patients who have lobbied for the drug to stay on the market, thinking that it may be another option to women who have run out of other alternatives and for whom nothing else that is typically used is working any more.
The side effects that are not acceptable for which the FDA has revoked approval of the drug are high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attack, serious bleeding, and holes in the heart and the intestines. Yikes, that is some pretty serious stuff if you ask me! It got me wondering why some are still lobbying to keep the drug alive and well.
The FDA claims that there was no proof the drug even helped to delay or stop the growth of breast cancer tumors. Which begs the question of why the drug was ever on the market in the first place. But then I realized that the drug is actually used in several other types of cancer successfully.
It was probably allowed for the treatment of advanced breast cancer since it was already being used with some success in other types of cancer. Sometimes, once a drug is regularly being used, problems simply make themselves apparent. Look at Vioxx, the painkiller drug that resulted in heart problems, and other medications like Phen Fen which slowly showed to be deadly.
Posted in Breast Health by .
Huh? Wait what? That was how I looked at the headline that suggested that drinking alcohol, something that has long been linked to increasing the risk of developing breast cancer in women, may actually help to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
I though I was either reading it incorrectly or that it may be one of those cleverly titled misleading news items that really wasn’t what it seemed at all when you really started to read the substance of it. But no, it really did mean just that. Alcohol apparently helps to stop the spreading of breast cancer, once a woman has already gotten it though.
That’s the rub here. Women who already have active breast cancer are the only ones who may actually benefit from drinking alcohol. It has shown promise as helping to halt the metastatis (spreading) of cancerous cells. However, the link between women developing breast cancer and drinking alcohol still stands.
It sounds like some very illogical reasoning if you ask me, but I’m not the scientist and I guess we’ll just have to leave that up to the lab men and women who come up with these intresting findings. Then again, this theory may soon be proven wrong, as so many are eventually about this hot topic.
The study on alcohol and breast cancer was carried out on mice. Often times studies are carried out on this animal because they have some physiological similarities to the human body, and they are very useful for determining how the human body might react to similar situations, although they are not 100% reliabel and alike.
The mice that had breast cancer tumors were given small amounts of alcohol. The other group of mice had the breast cancer tumors and were not given the servings of alcohol. The mice who got the alcohol actually showed that their breast cancer growth was slowing down or stopping whereas the non-alcoholic group did not show any benefit.
The alcohol-mice were showing about a 60% reduction in the spread as compared to the other group, so it’s not small potatoes either. Still baffling is why alcohol would be a causal factor for getting breast cancer, but may help to halt its spread once it has initiated into the body.
Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by .
Dec 11
2
When Post Partum Depression Hits
There’s a lot to be said about having a baby. You’re new to breast feeding and the whole nine yards. You’re never sure if you’re doing the right thing when you’re making decisions about your child’s health, or even what times you should be breastfeeding them – and you feel isolated and often alone for the first few months.
Of course, daddy needs to step in here as well, but often times women are the primary caregivers during the first months of a child’s life. Postpartum depression is a fairly common occurrence for new mothers. It can happen after childbirth and persist for a few months or even up to a year. The symptoms are sadness, fatigue, anxiety, irritability and changes in eating or sleeping patterns.
Women often feel guilty about feeling depressed as they think they should be happy about having a new baby. Factors that contribute to postpartum depression are the enormous change in lifestyle, hormonal changes and possible preexisting mental illness.
Postpartum depression differs from postpartum exhaustion or the more transient “baby blues”. The postpartum exhaustion improves after adequate sleep. The “baby blues” will pass and are less severe in the symptoms.
Additional symptoms of postpartum depression are low self esteem, hopelessness, guilt, emptiness, social withdrawal, feelings of inadequacy, spells of anger, and panic attacks. Risk factors that will increase the chance of developing postnatal depression include a poor social support, poor marital relationship, infancy colic, prenatal anxiety, single parenthood, poverty and an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy.
Postpartum depression has a serious effect on, not only the mother, but hinders the bonding and care of the infant. A clinically depressed mother will not respond with positive emotions toward the new baby. This will negatively effect the mother to baby relationship.
The mother may be emotionally detached and avoid caring for the infant. The infant of a mother with post partum depression will feel less secure. The stigma and guilt the mother feels about her postnatal depression may hinder her from seeking help for her depression.
The medical community should be screening for risk factors and be aware to intervene at an early point to treat this type of hormonal and situational depression. Proper nutrition and exercise should be addressed to help to decrease the risk of depression.
Treatment for postpartum depression can include support groups, psychological counseling, a healthy diet and developing consistent sleep patterns. Sometimes, antidepressant medications are used. Safety is always an issue if a new mother is nursing and using medications for depression and it should be discussed with her physician.
According to research, it is estimated that 15% of women experience postpartum depression. Health care professionals in OB-GYN need to know to bring up the conversation about the prevalence of postpartum depression. Information should be given to new mothers on resources available for help.
Health care professionals should be screening for depression around 24 to 26 weeks during the pregnancy itself, and 4 weeks after delivery. Early intervention can vastly improve life for the new mother, her infant and her family.
Posted in Breast Feeding by .
The Mediterranean diet, as it has been termed, is really more of a common sense, all around healthful approach to eating than a diet to me. It only got its name because those that live in the Mediterranean have easier access to several of the foods on the diet, and a lot of the foods are heavily consumed by people in this geographic area.
However, a lot of people in the US have been eating these same foods for the past several decades – just maybe not at the same concentration as those in the notorious sea area. So, this particular diet regimen has been linked to lower blood pressure, weight loss and an array of other health benefits.
These health benefits likely include improved breast health and prevention of breast cancer and also increased fertility – the latter being a recent finding on the diet. The study was funded by Spain, and it found that women who follow a largely principled diet on this regimen by eating lots of fish, veggies and whole grains, are much less likely to have problems with fertility.
In other words, these women had much less of a problem with conception of a child. Of course, if their partner was also on the same diet, they would have even greater chances of conceiving without any glitches.
The thought is that, among the other numerous health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, it helps to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Healthy blood sugar levels make a woman and a man more fertile simply by producing an ideal environment for the conception of a child within the body.
This, combined with lower blood pressure, likely a lower body acidity and toxicity, and a healthier heart and other organs, makes for a much better environment more condusive to healthy sperm, healthy eggs, and healthy reproductive organs in the body of both a man and woman.
The health effects of this diet are still being studied. Of course, there are plenty of other diet regimens that are also healthy, but this one seems to still be one of the diets du jour that is getting lots of attention. We’ll of course talk more about the health benefits for breast health of this diet as more comes out.
Posted in Breast Health by .
Nov 11
24
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ONE AND ALL!
Happy Thanksgiving to all my treasured readers out there. Have fun indulging in pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, tom turkey and dressing and all that ooey gooey sugary dessert! It’s our day to indulge in foods we love and be with those we love. Enjoy and have a wonderful, safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
With the Fukushima disaster (which eerily has not been in the news for a long time for being such a disaster), many men and women were exposed to toxic levels of radioactive materials. These radioactive materials can seep into the water supply, the ground and the produce that springs forth from the ground, making it lethal for years to come.
That’s the scary part – when we pollute our environment, the effects are often a lot longer lasting than we usually fancy. This is why organic produce that is certified is required to be in clean unpolluted ground for several years before it can be considered certified organic produce (thank God).
But the toxins we are surrounded with every day, even if no disaster, is quite scary as well. For example, just the foods we eat and the products we use on our bodies, or that come into contact with our skin on a daily basis, can be toxic to our systems.
One such toxin that is pervasive still in many body care products are parabens. These are chemical preservatives that are used to extend the shelf life of consumer goods ranging from toothpaste and lotion to deodorants and shampoos.
The rub here is that they don’t just sit on the surface of the skin. They actually absorb into the skin and then enter the blood stream. Parabens are known endocrine disruptors. This means that they can interfere with the natural balance of female and male hormones in both men and women, causing a disruption in the natural balance of these important hormones.
They are found in abundance in both the urine and breast milk of women. These, along with other toxins found in scented products and other hygiene products are found in the bodily fluids. Phthalates are another common chemical that is used to stabilize scented products and haircolor and things of that nature.
DMDM is another chemical commonly found which is a derivative of formaldehyde, a highly toxic chemical.
Aluminum has even been found in women’s breast tissue when biopsied from women with breast cancer. This lead to the infamous link between aluminum and breast cancer that had many women searching for safer alternatives to commercial aluminum-containing deodorant.
There are scores of other chemicals that can be found in the breast milk, too numerous to even list here. One of the ways you can help avoid toxin saturation like this is to use only all natural body care. This way, you aren’t adding even more to your toxic load by simply trying to look and feel your best.
Posted in Breast Health by .
There have been two recent confirmations of something that has long bees suspected and used as a common sense prevention method against most types of cancer, including breast cancer. The first is to really limit your intake of alcohol.
The research on alcohol intake has been fairly mixed. Some studies suggest that those with drink moderately actually live longer and have less heart troubles. Some suggest that even moderate to light drinkers put themselves at a higher risk for cancer.
Now, newer research seems to be confirming that breast cancer at least, is more likely for those that are even light to moderate alcohol drinkers. That means if you just have drinks a few nights a week and are very moderate with your habit, you still will increase your risk of breast cancer.
Of course the increase may be fairly small, but it is nonetheless there and cannot be ignored. Light drinking, for purposes of this study, is about three drinks per week. Even this small amount of alcoholic beverage seems to increase the risk of breast cancer a small amount. Moderate and hard drinking, of course, increases it even more.
Women who drink more than this amount have an increased risk of breast cancer of about 15% or more than non drinkers. If you drink more, you risk higher weight, potentially more heart health issues, diabetes, and all kinds of other health issues in addition to an increase in the risk for several different types of cancer, not just cancer of the breasts.
Sitting too much has been targeted as a major factor in not only the likelihood of getting certain types of cancer, but also in having heart and blood pressure problems, and of generally being a more sickly person all around. Sitting too much turns off our genes that help to keep us thin and lithe, active and energetic.
When these genes turn off, we gain weight and can become lethargic and more sickly. Moving around and exercising is key to the reduction in cancer risk as well as for general longevity. Plus, you actually feel good about yourself and your life when you are getting regular exercise.
Posted in Breast Health by .
Evelyn Lauder, who is related to the cosmetics magnate Estee Lauder, has passed away. But she is not only notable for her relationship to one of the biggest names in cosmetics and ingenuity. She is actually the creator of the pink ribbon that is used for breast cancer awareness as we know it today.
Lauder has championed breast cancer awareness for decades now. She passed away from form of ovarian cancer. She was 75 years old. Evelyn herself struggled with breast cancer, and was diagnosed later in life with the ovarian cancer which eventually took her life.
The woman had a reputation of being tough, and she attributed that to her growing up as a refugee from Nazis. After coming over to the states, she ended up marrying into the Estee Lauder family, where she eventually took a position as a leader in the company.
Through her own struggle with breast cancer, she became a voice of awareness and raised millions of dollars for research into a cure through her Breast Cancer Research foundation. She made little noise about her own struggle with the disease, which made her efforts all that much more noble and admirable.
It is because of women like Lauder that there is so much awareness about breast cancer and finding a treatment for it today. However, I feel that the awareness and all the money that is being raised could be going toward more nontoxic treatments than are what currently out there today such as chemotherapy and radiation.
I would love to see a movement toward more alternative therapies, as well as more of this money going not to the major pharmaceutical companies but to women who are going through treatment and need the money to support themselves and their families.
Posted in Breasts in the News by .
When it comes to most types of breast cancer, there is one fact that is pretty much undisputed. That fact is that excessive estrogens, especially those of a synthetic nature that did not originate in the female body itself, via its own natural processes, may actually accelerate breast cancer.
However, it is unknown specifically what types of hormones. For example, we now know that synthetic hormones in HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy, can acccelerate breast cancer and even cause heart problems. There has been no definitive link between hormones used in IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization, or birth control pills or drugs.
However, that doesn’t mean that they certainly are not under a cloud of suspicion by not only doctors, but natural health specialists, consumer advocates, and patients and informed consumers themselves.
The question was really brough to light when an anchor for a popular television show, Giuliana Rancic, was diagnosed with breast cancer and publicized it. She also happened to be undergoing fertility treatments, and was only tested for breast cancer because her fertility doctor refused to put her on fertility hormones until he confirmed 100% that she did not have breast cancer.
She did not even think there was a chance she could have breast cancer since she’s still fairly young at age 36. Most women have the conventional thought process that they are not at risk for breast cancer until after they hit their forties and fifties.
The current conventional wisdom is that the risk goes up after age forty and the risk is very low for women under forty. However, there are instances where women can get breast cancer “younger”. Often times when diagnosed younger, it may be a more serious form of breast cancer.
However, the cases we’ve seen so far in the public spotlight haven’t been that way. Cases like Christina Applegate and other younger actresses seemed to be resolved very quickly and were easily treatable. So it seems very unthreatening. But in reality, when younger women get breast cancer, it can be a real cause for concern.
Hormones that are given for medical purposes should be carefully considered, whether they are for birth control reasons or for some other reason like the control of menopausal symptoms. The reason is, they can very well fuel breast cancer if it is already present, or they perhaps can even initiate the growth of breast cancer cells.
We just don’t know enough about them yet, so it’s best to play on the side of caution.
Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by .
There are a couple of interesting stories in the news as of late about breast health that I’d like to share. The first headline really caught my eye, because it put two things that logically don’t go together in one sentence. Spider venom and breast cancer treatment – talk about a shocker. So of course I had to read on – great headlines deserve attention!
Apparently a very deadly type of spider venom, which is essentially the poison that spiders inject into their prey or may emit when they are threatened as a nerve toxin usually, is being eyed as a potential part of treatment in breast cancer. Why on earth would we be looking at a seemingly deadly toxin to treat another deadly disease?
Interested? Well, it gets even more interesting. Researchers are gathering spider venom from an Australian spider that has a very potent venom. The venom has about 300 particular molecules that may be of interest. They are going to try to isolate all of the molecules and try to see if they have any effect on targeting and killing cancer cells only – instead of killing cancer cells and healthy cells, which is what chemotherapy does.
This is why chemo often ends up killing people more quickly, or being the cause of death in some cases. It leaves a person so weak that they cannot fend off the cancer with their immune system any more. That’s just my opinion. I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen chemo kill too many that I love.
The spider venom contains molecules that have traits which suggest they could be useful against cancer, so that is why they are running this study. Should be interesting to see if anything comes of it.
In other news that I feel could impact breast health, BPA’s, those chemicals which are used in so many consumer products today to harden plastics and coat linings of containers among other things, have been implicated in even more health issues.
Not only have BPA’s been implicated in adding to the likelihood of breast cancer because of their synthetic mimicking of estrogen and the hormonal havoc it causes, but now BPA’s have also been linked to behavioral issues in little girls whose mothers have been exposed to BPA’s.
Research shows that women who have high amounts of BPA’s in their urine have daughters more often that end up having behavioral issues by the time they are 3 years old. This is more proof that BPA’s can interfere with brain development when a fetus is exposed, and the role of hormones in fetal development is important.
Remember, AVOID BPA’s if you can!
Posted in Breast Health by .
Well, the month of breast cancer and breast health awareness if officially over, and this time it appears that the month dedicated to one of America’s favorite subjects in both health and obsession, breasts, has garnered a lot of following.
There have been numerous news stories about breast cancer awareness month of October 2011.
From the news story about highschool chearleaders getting chastised for wearing t-shirts in support of breast health, to the story about teens wearing “boobie” bracelets at school getting kicked out, breast cancer awareness month has been allover the news in one way or another.
You can’t watch a football game in October without seeing a ton of pink everywhere. Of course, pink is the symbol of breast health and the pink ribbon is a symbol of supporting breast health – as to what that means exactly, is up to the person.
Some people wear it simply to support women and acknowledge that breast cancer is something that needs to be greatly reduced and eventually stamped out. Some people wear it in support of a family member who has had breast cancer, or died from it.
Some wear it in support of organizations that are supposed to provide support to women who have breast cancer, or who financially support the companies that do the majority of the research on drugs and other therapies that might help to somehow erradicate the disease.
It seems that just about everyone has some tie to breast cancer. I myself have a couple ties to it. A beloved aunt of mine passed away from it almost twenty years ago. Another aunt got breast cancer and was successfully treated for it and is doing very well still today.
Most people I talk to have a relative or friend or acquaintence whos life has been hit by breast cancer. It’s unfortunately a pervasive disease that strikes too many women – whether young or old.
It can be more successfully treated if detected early of course, but it can also be reduced in likelihood if one follows certain dietary and exercise guidelines. Of course, there are some genetic predipositions that cannot be changed, but you can help reduce the likelihood of any type of cancer through certain lifestyle modifications.
Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by .
Oct 11
29
What is Symmastia?
I must admit, I had never heard of this breast implant complication before happening across it while reading about other information having to do with breast augmentation surgery. It’s pretty astounding to see pictures of symmastia, I’ll tell you that. It looks almost like one uni-boob, if I may be so vulgar.
What symmastia is, is when the breast implants in the chest wall actually touch eachother, giving the illusion of very tightly packed cleavage, or as I said before, a sort of “uni boob”. Obviously this is not an attractive look, and it is a problem if it occurs after breast augmentation surgery.
But why would symmastia even happen in the first place? Well, it does make sense, because breast implants are known to have a tendency to migrate, meaning they can move from their original position within the chest by the doctor who put them there.
Usually, because of gravity though, they move down on the chest or may move slightly over to the outside of the body, rather than in together. So symmastia is a fairly rare complication, but it does occur and it’s rather dicsoncerting for the patients that experience it since it is so alarming in appearance.
But apparently you don’t have to have breast implants to have symmastia. You can actually have a deformity of the breasts that causes this to happen naturally as well. Not surprising, considering the range of physical deformities that can occur in both women and men at birth.
Many women choose to have revision surgery if their breast implants move together in this fashion, much like they would have revision surgery if they had any other type of dramatic moving of the breast implants.
Over the muscle implants may have a slightly higher risk of moving together like this since they do not have the muscle pinning them down like with under the muscle implants. If this is something that concerns you, and you are thinking about getting breast implants, ask your doctor what type of placement is best for avoiding migration of the implants.
Even better, check out your alternatives to getting breast implants as well.
Posted in Implant News by .
Having a mastectomy, or a double mastectomy, often feels extremely emotional for women. Our breasts are something that we grew with. They are a part of our bodies, a part of our treasured femininity and a symbol of our sexuality. Sure, breasts are flaunted, too talked about, obsessed over, and put on a pedestal in most countries (not all, but trust me, most), but they are, never the less, a vital part of a woman’s feelings of her feminine nature.
My breasts make me feel beautiful and powerful. I love the way they look in a pretty bra or in a sexy bathing suit. I love the way they get a little bit of cleavage and turn my husband on when I’m wearing something sexy. I love when they are touched, kissed, and all the other stuff that goes with breasts being a erogenous zone on the female body.
Of course, breasts can be a pain in the butt sometimes too. I mean, who doens’t hate wearing a dang bra all the time? I think I may be the most bra-hating woman in America to be honest, but I know there are lots of other women right there with me that would agree wearing a bra is one of the most uncomfortable things a modern woman has to do these days.
I still love my breasts though. They are the goddess-like symbol of our uniqueness. They can be small, large, pert, saggy, firm, not so firm, shaped differently and the whole nine yards – but so many of them are just beautiful. They come to be a part of us, and not just like any other body part, but a sexual and powerful part of our bodies, and when we lose one or both, the emotional results can be really devastating to us and even to our significant others.
This is why reconstructive surgery has come such a long way. There are some great reconstructive surgeons out there that can give women who have had to have radical mastectomies done a pair of breasts that may even look better than they did before they had cancer!
Posted in Breast Health by .
Tomoxifen is a well known drug that is given to women who have, or have had, breast cancer. It is supposed to help suppress the estrogens that can fuel breast cancer or ignite it again once remission has been declared. Older women who are taking the drug have shown a slightly increased risk for developing diabetes than women who are not on the breast cancer drug.
The drug is often taken indefinitely as a way to help prevent the cancer from coming back, so it is something that is taken on a regular basis, although it is unclear exactly what properties of this drug would increase the risk of diabetes. The drug can be capped at five years, but it is really up to the doctor’s discretion as well as the specific type of breast cancer the woman has.
The theory is that the drug only increases the diabetes risk in women who are already predisposed to the condition to begin with. This makes it more of a risk for women in this subgroup obviously. However, doctors are quick to point out that Tamoxifen is still a life saving drug, and that the risks still are outweighed by the immense benefits women can get from using this drug after breast cancer remission.
Also suspected as part of the cause is that estrogen actually plays a role in helping to regular blood sugar some how. Since Tamoxifen blocks estrogen, it may also contribute to blood sugar irregularities while in the process of blocking these hormones in the female body.
At any rate, it is important to discuss any drug’s potential side effects or indications with the doctor you’ve chosen. You should always feel comfortable enough to ask your doctor these questions. If you get any annoyed looks, then you may want to be on the lookout for a new doctor, this indicates a bad bedside manner!
Posted in Breasts in the News by .
I’ve been reading some very interesting things on Susan G Komen and other breast cancer nonprofit organizations that likely started off as meaning well.
They have, however, evolved into organizations that may be giving a lot of their money to pharmaceutical companies to come up with drugs that can be more toxic than the cancer itself to the female body. That is the concern.
There are several articles out there on the “pinkwashing” of our society when it comes to these organizations that seem very good on the surface, but may not be contributing equally to nontoxic, more natural solutions to eradicating or greatly reducing breast cancer in women.
I would be remiss to say that I had never thought of this before, but I guess I always assumed these organizations gave equally to companies and persons who are researching a cure for breast cancer, not giving the majority of it to toxic medications.
We know that cancer medicines like radiation and chemotherapy are toxic to the human body. Sure, they kill cancer cells, but they also kill normal, healthy cells. They compromise the immune system further, and many times cause the death of the patient.
They can hasten death instead of putting it off in some cases as well. This is all my opinion, so I’m really saying how I feel. Many people corroborate on this as well, as more and more evidence is showing that chemotherapy and other toxic cancer therapies may be doing more harm than good.
There are some organizations that will donate to companies that are looking for healthier alternatives to treating breast cancer. There are also others that help to financially support women going through cancer treatment or to give them hope as well as some sort of financial support, and those are the organizations that I will support.
If you have questions about specifically where your money is going, and you are donating to an organization, I suggest you write to them and express your concern about a one sided approach. You can always suggest other organizations for them to include in any financial support as well.
Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by .
This conversation came up the other day actually. We were talking about how our in-house employee clinic was offering breast cancer screenings. The kind where a travelling nurse goes around and does breast examinations, or teaches you how to do breast exams on yourself and detect breast cancer earlier.
We also have a program that offers mammograms on the go as well. These are for busy women who don’t like the hassle of making the appointment and having to travel to a doctor’s office. As far as isurance goes, ours is pretty darn good, in addition to some great life insurance benefits, so I consider myself extremely lucky to work for a company that happens to be an insurance company and very aware of what good insurance is for its employees.
However, I know that we are few and far between as so many employers are cutting back on their health and life insurance programs at the expense of their employees. It’s not all their fault though. Health insurance costs are skyrocketing, and it’s a wonder that employers even offer health insurance at all any more.
Some health insurers are cutting off the spouses from being covered if they have health insurance elsewhere as well. We learned this the hard way when my husband, who is on my insurance now, starting accruing a $40 a paycheck charge for having insurance at another location.
At any rate, if your insurer provides breast health screenings for you free of charge, it’s a really great incentive to go and get screened and make sure you stay healthy!
Posted in Breast Health by .
I received notification that Healthline, a popular health and medical website, has just released a 3D version of the female chest. It’s quite cool, I checked it out. It can show you the various areas of the female breast and the physiology and anatomy of this area on women. If you’re a girl, it’s pretty neat to look at it and figure out what’s what on your body.
It can also help you to figure out how to best perform breast self examinations on yourself when you are doing them – preferably at least twice a year and screening yourself for any signs of breast cancer. Your doctor should do a manual screening of your breasts every time you see them and you should be getting a general health checkup at least once a year.
You can actually highlight certain areas of the picture and it will show you various things about the anatomy of that area. You can also go into various degree views of the breast and chest area by moving a little cursor at the bottom of the picture.
It even allows you to go several layers deep into the female chest by viewing the muscle layers, the bones and cartilage, the nerves and vessels and the organs that lie beneath the fatty deposits that make women’s breasts keep their shape and firmness.
Each of these layers allows you to put your cursor over any area you’re curious about and to see what you are sitting on. It’s cool because you can literally see what lies beneath your chest cavity at the click of a button.
The page also links you to a self examination “Survivor’s Tale” that tells you all about how self examination is important from the perspective of someone who survived breast cancer. This is a very neat tool, and something that every woman should check out I think.
You can find it here at Female Chest in 3D. This is a really educational tool. It may even be helpful for those going to school and taking anatomy classes as a sort of study tool. I can tell you this – they didn’t have this kind of stuff when I was in high school or going to college! So take advantage of it!
Posted in Breast Health by .
Sometimes, when you read about practices that occur in the world, you feel lucky that you live in a somewhat organized, logical and safe society. However, rememer that this kind of stuff can happen here in families or in private, and that there can often be barbaric practices right under your nose and you may not even know it.
In Cameroon, which is an African nation, breast ironing, a practice to which mothers of teen girls have been taking for several decades, is still a barbaric, scarring and emotionally jarring practice that is done on teen girls by their own mothers. It is estimated that about one in four teen girls still undergo this procedure at the hands of their own mothers.
While it is true that mothers do this for what they feel is the protection from pregnancy for their daughters, it is nonetheless still a terrible, inhumane and sexist tradition. The problem, women say that are advocating its stoppage as a practice, is sex education.
In Cameroon, mothers do not feel comfortable talking to their daughters about sex. Instead, they think that putting a hot iron on their daughters breasts, scarring them for life, and making them less attractive to boys so they won’t get pregnant, is a way to protect them from getting pregnant.
They think that if they make their teen daughters less desirable to men, they will be less likely to get pregnant at an early age. They do it because they are trying to provide for a better start into adulthood for their daughters so they don’t have a child too early, but in essence, they are leaving these teen girls with an emotionally scarred memory, as well as scarring their breasts – a treasured sign of femininity in every culture – for the rest of the lives.
Education programs are under way to educate mothers of daughters that they do not need to do this, in an effort to stop this archaic practice. They are trying to educate mothers on how to approach and talk to their teens about sex and how to protect themselves from getting pregnant and from STD’s if they choose to become sexually active.
They are hoping to end this unspeakable practice, once and for all.
Posted in Natural Breast Enhancement & Enlargement by .
There is a lot of hullabaloo over the HPV vaccine. Most recently, the controversial vaccine is back in the news after Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry squared off over it in the GOP debate on television. The news media loved it. They instantly zeroed in on it because it’s such a hot button issue to begin with.
Rick Perry is the governor of Texas. As you know, he has presidential aspirations, and has thrown his hat in the ring to be the next Republican nominee for president against Obama, the Democratic incumbent.
Bachmann rightfully attacked governor Perry over his forced mandate that teens in his state get this controversial vaccine. Although it wasn’t really forcing anything, it sent a strong message that he backed vaccinations and was willing to put his political career on the line to push one that many parents are shying away from.
What I’ve read about Gardasil, the HPV vaccination that is supposedly going to help cut down on rates of cervical cancer in grown women, isn’t all that great so far. First of all, its critics claim that the vaccine isn’t even effective against the very strains of HPV that cause, or lead to cervical cancer.
That’s a big strike. Second, there are many safety issues surrounding the vaccine. Although many girls have gotten it without repercussions, there have been some related illnesses reported, as well as at least one related death (if not more at this point). Parents really shied away after that.
Where do you stand? I myself do not get flu shots or anything else, as I don’t really get sick often. I would not have my teen get this vaccination because I just don’t believe that the good outweighs the potential bad. But that’s just me. I know that everyone has a right to make their own decisions.
Posted in Womens Health by .
Sep 11
30
The Ahh Bra
So I’ve been seeing these ads on TV for this bra that the company calls the “Ahh Bra”, and I must admit I’m a little intrigued by it. I’m one of those people who hates to wear a bra. It is literally the first thing that comes off when I walk through the door from an event of work. I hate bras that much.
So needless to say, I’m always on the lookout for a comfortable bra – something that makes me feel like I’m not wearing a constrictive bra at all – that feels like I’m not wearing anything. But that has escaped me. I’ve found plenty of bras that are comfortable enough, but I can always still tell they are there, constricting my body.
Bras just are not comfortable, and it sucks that women have to wear them or feel like they are indecent if they go out in public without them. I mean, is it going to kill anyone to see a little bit of nipple if you suddenly get cold? No! And yet this is the standard by which we judge proper female etiquette.
In short, bras just stink and they’re a lousy deal for women. The Ahh Bra, which is advertised for sale on television is one that is claiming to be the perfect fit for any body due to its individually woven technology, which allows it to stretch and fit pretty much any size while also offering support.
The price is twenty bucks plus shipping and handling, and like many other television offers, it comes with a second one for free. Oh wait, not really for free, you do have to pay another charge for shipping and handling (which should be zero, but oh well, it’s still probably not a bad deal).
I’m not buying one yet, I’m still relyin gon my good old faithful Hanes Stretch sport bras, but if anyone tries them, can you post a review here for the rest of us gals?
Dec 11
25
Merry Christmas Readers!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!