Breast News Magazine

It seems that there is a lot of conflicting news on estrogen today.  One minute, we hear that too much estrogen, or at least phony estrogens that are found in HRT or hormone replacement therapies are harmful and can actually increase the odds of heart disease, then we are now hearing that estrogen can offer several heart benefits, assumingly not known to the general public before now. 

But there is a catch.  The hormone may actually offer heart benefits, not the more aged segment of women who have already undergone menopause, but to women who are at or below the age of fifty who take estrogen supplements.  Women who took the estrogen in the studies who were in their fifties actually had a statistically lower occurrence of hardening of the arteries, which cause heart attacks and other types of heart and circulatory disease that is getting more common in women, as it has been in men for years and years.

The real catch here is that the women who have reached their 60s and 70s cannot garner the same benefits from taking estrogens, and instead in fact may actually be at higher danger from the fact that they are taking hormone supplements if they are over fifty, so this benefit is limited to a strict age group for as yet unknown, conclusive and concrete scientific reasons. 

The advice from doctors considered experts on the subject of aging and hormones has stayed identical to what it was prior to this study though, and that is that women in their fifties or sixties or seventies for that matter, should really only take estrogen as a remedy against hot flashes and the other discomforts of menopause and perimenopause, or of course for other medical conditions that may warrant such a call from a doctor (although I’m unaware of any, I’m sure there are instances where this may be the case). 

It has been a long held assumption (at least from myself, admittedly) that the feared breast cancer gene comes from mothers, and maternal aunts and sisters and that is how the breast cancer gene is passed on from generation to generation, but new studies are proving that the so called breast cancer gene, or the genetic mutation that allows for the formation of breast cancer and increases risk significantly, comes from dear ol’ dad. 

The problem is that genetic testing, which now can offer a lot of detection for women who are more at risk than others thanks to a family history on the female side of breast cancer, is not offered to women unless the gene was found in other female members of the family, because it is a very costly battery of genetic tests that must be done, to the tune of about $3 grand a pop. 

The father factor has been overlooked and many times experts say, women think the breast cancer gene came out of nowhere because their father gave it to them and the gene was really dormant and didn’t cause any breast cancer in previous generations.  This may be a new consideration for insurance companies to cover the costs of genetic testing now since a new variable has been thrown into the mix, and it’s not only the female side of the family that can carry this potentially deadly gene. 

Another problem is that many current doctors, much like myself and probably you too, overlook the fact that dad could have passed on the gene for breast cancer, and are not aware of this new breast cancer research that suggests the father factor, and so they do not look for the link.  Genetic breast cancer can occur in men too, but it is very rare, so many times dads carry the gene silently and no one thinks twice until a female member of the family (daughter) has a breast cancer diagnosis. 

Women who should be extra aware of the possibility that their father may have passed on the breast cancer gene are women with very few female relatives on the woman’s side, and women who are adopted and do not have a family history to look back to when considering whether they are at higher risk of developing genetically handed down breast cancer.  Also women who may have had family members who died before diagnosis should be extra inquisitive about unexplained deaths so they may be a little more inclined to ask for the genetic test that could potentially save their lives and prevent them from getting breast cancer some day. 

Research has recently shown yet another common thread in breast cancer patients, one that is significant and credible enough that it seems as though research is almost about to crack the breast cancer code and be able to formulate (we all hope) much better therapies other than the incredibly destructive and life altering treatment for breast cancer, chemotherapy and radiation, the former being the worst as we all know.  Especially with the news that chemotherapy does not help most breast cancer patients, it is imperative that the treatments for breast cancer receive more attention than just simply cracking the code behind why women get breast cancer. 

The significant finding this time is that the IKBKE breast cancer gene has multiple copies of itself in women with breast cancer, whereas this genetic code is only found up to twice in most other women.  Sounds confusing, huh?  That’s why I hope I’m explaining this right!  It is confusing, and most of the research that happens in breast cancer today is somewhat confusing and even contradictory at times, which is why it is important to remember that this research doesn’t necessarily apply in every single distinct case.

These IKBKE cells most likely begin to randomly duplicate themselves as breast cancer forms in the body, at least that is what researchers are hypothesizing right now, since the discovery is still so new.  That’s the tricky part, the cells begin to just spontaneously begin to multiply with no reason in breast cancer patients, and even also in patients with other types of cancer, without being inherited from parents. 

The trick is to try to starve these cancer cells by depriving them of a specific protein that they need to survive, and that may be the new key to fighting breast cancer, if they can only figure out why this spontaneous copying of the cell happens with no logical cause (as of yet, remember we are in an age of highly advanced science right now, and the answer could literally be right around the corner for all we know). 

Although several genes have been identified that can raise an individual’s risk of getting breast cancer, this newest finding is promising because it suggests there may be a controllable variable in breast cancer that no one has thought of yet. 

Breast feeding has long been touted as the best thing you can do for your child, and education continues to persuade women to do everything in their power to breast feed their children.  But does it sometimes go so far in its persuasion attempts to make women feel guilty if they are unable to breast feed, or simply have too many other obligations to make the intense efforts to breast feed their kids or use a breast pump.  Some women actually can’t breast feed, because they have physical conditions that prevent them from doing so or they happen to have a child who latches on too hard or cannot get in sync with the mother.

Let’s face it, sometimes the effort is a good hearted one to breast feed ones child, but it also can become ill fated when the mother or child has too many issues or the mother simply finds it too painful to breast feed.

Should we be made to feel guilty for still wanting the best for the children but simply being unable or hey - unwilling to provide breast milk?  Sure, it’s supposed to be the most economical way to feed a child, and it is also supposed to boost a child’s immune system as well as to help their minds develop better and at a faster rate, but what if it simply goes against the ways that we live our lives? 

Women many times say that when the stop breast feeding thie children they feel intense guilt that is only exacerbated by the media and public pressure to breast feed their children.  I think it’s a great thing that we are encouraged to breast feed the youngsters of today, but do we sometimes go too far in the quest to make our children more healthier and stronger?  When it all comes down to it, breast feeding should still be a choice of the mother, and what is best for her life and the life of her child, together. 

Well, yeah, duh, right?  I guess it is common sense that the reason women get breast implants is not only, of course, to have bigger breasts, but at the root of the desire to have bigger or more shapely, or lifted breasts, is that they are hoping this will boost their body confidence, or their self confidence. 

And it does indeed work for many women, but women should beware that if they are thinking breast implants are going to make them happy people, then they are sorely mistaken.

Breast implants should be purchased only if the buyer has realistic expectations of why they are getting the breast implants, and also of how these new additions to their body are going to make them feel, all the time.  It’s not like life just becomes a whole different song and dance after you get implants.  You still go through rough times and good times, just like before, you just do so with bigger breasts!

A lot of really young women are getting implants nowadays, and that may be a dangerous trend, because these young ladies are deluged with images of well endowed women all around the all the time, thinking these women are somehow naturally gifted, and why aren’t they?  When in reality, many women in the media who have curvy figures got that way by getting surgery. 

For men with breast cancer, there can definitely be a feeling of being totally alone as one of the few unlucky men who get the disease, which is mostly confined to the female of the human species.  The reason for that is mostly because of biological makeup, and simply because women’s hormones are often the cause of getting breast cancer, and simply because women have more of a ” breast” than men do, so it is a mass of flesh that is of course going to be more susceptible to disease than a man’s breast, which does not have nearly as much flesh and may not harbor disease as readily.

Less than 500 men die a year of breast cancer, but to be honest, this is much more than I expected as a woman, because if 500 died, than how many more are actually diagnosed with breast cancer, and also how many more have it and are not yet diagnosed?  Male breast cancer often begins with the same warning signs as female cancer, but because it is less likely and less suspect in men, it can go undiagnosed, or not looked into for too long and may reach more advanced stages more readily than it might in a women, who is pretty much trained these days to look out for warning signs of breast cancer, such as painful nipple discharge, lumps in the breast, sudden pain in the breasts, and other common warning signs of breast cancer.  They also receive mammographies, whereas a man would not. 

Breast cancer has been said to be about one hundred times more likely in women than it is in men, so the reasoning is there as to why it is looked at under an intense microscope for women, especially women who are in the menopausal years and women who have reached the age of 40, since certain hormone changes make breast cancer more likely.

Doctors say that male breast cancer may be a higher risk if it runs in the family, just like it is for female breast cancer, so a man that is diagnosed with male breast cancer would want to warn his other family member, especially sons born to him, of the increased risk.  Treatment for breast cancer in men is treated much the same as it is with women. 

Many times a lumpectomy may be performed, or for other cases, radiation therapy, surgery, or hormone therapy may be administered, as well as chemotherapy (see previous story about how chemo is now thought to be useless for as many as 50% of breast cancer patients now - scary).   

I received two questions that I’ll post here (anonymously of course), for others who may have similar questions. 

Question : Should I use a breast pump in conjunction with my oral supplement for breast enhancement that I chose?  Can you recommend any good breast pump systems

Answer :

Breast Cancer Patients May Be OK with Less Radiation

Breast Actives Has New Cream