Archive for December, 2008

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years!  Just wanted to make sure I wished all Breast News readers a very happy and prosperous and fun new years!  Hopefully you get to hang out with your closest friends tonight and reflect on what a great year it was (notwithstanding the awful financial news that seemed ot permeate the second half of 2008), and have a few cocktails – remember, red wine is the most breast-healthy if you have a choice

 HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Zometa, a Bone Drug, May Help Chemo in Breast Cancer Treatment

In some good news for breast cancer treatment and research, it appears that a bone density drug called Zometa may help women strengthen their bone density (which is a common problem for us women as we age), but it may also help chemotherapy fight breast cancer.  Why would they  come to that conclusion, with two seemingly unrelated drugs, one for cancer and one for bone density?

Well, apparently women who were recieving both treatments had more tumor shrinkage than the women who were just getting chemotherapy by itself.  The problem with Zometa and other similar bone building drugs is that often one infusion of them costs the patient over one thousand dollars per treatment, minus anything your health insurance pays, of course, but it’s still pretty pricey, and the drug may also have some side effects, although they are supposedly rare.

I think this is another positive movement toward complementary treatments for breast cancer, since it addresses it not just with one drug -the scary one name chemotherapy, but with two drugs that may address the problem more completely.  Hopefully these types of findings will lead to more experimentation with potentially complementing drugs that may help boost the other’s effectiveness, or they may just complement eachother in the body for some reason.

In other news, there are new hormone blockers that block certain types of cancer fueling estrogens on the market that may provide a better treatment option for breast cancer as well, adding more hope that this cancer may soon be a very treatable and preventable cancer in women.

Estrogen, Progestin for Menopause Do Increase Breast Cancer Risk

There is now a pretty conclusive study that shows that there is a definite link between breast cancer likelihood and the taking of supplements medically prescribed for menopause relief for five years or more.  The two supplementations I’m speaking of are naturally occurring female hormones that tend to naturally dwindle with age and cause their own host of problems, called Progesting and Estrogen. 

These two hormones are a woman’s friend in the right dosages, but some opponents say that medically prescribed HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, which is usually comprised of combinations for progestin and estrogen hormone replacements, cause a great increase in the risk for breast cancer in the women who take them for longer periods of time. 

The link has been somewhat of a theory for a while now, but the study now definitively links the two and physicians should now be aware of this extreme downside to prescribing hormone replacement therapy for their female patients from now on.  The good news though is that, unlike some other cancer increasing habits or factors, the fact that a woman has been on HRT should pretty quickly dissipate after she’s discontinued treatment, as far as it’s likely impact on her odds at getting breast cancer. 

So, unlike something like smoking, which takes a woman years to recover her lung health and regain a firm hold against cancer, HRT is almost immediately a dissipated risk factor once it is stopped by the female patient.  So, if a woman has been on hormone replacement therapy for a few years, her body quickly recovers from it’s increased likelihood of getting breast cancer, which is good, but it doesn’t mean that HRT should be looked upon lightly, since it is enough of a concern.

The reason I say it’s enough of a concern is that there was a marked improvement in the numbers of breast cancer incidents during the years immediately following the bad press on HRT and the subsequent halting of many doctors recommending or prescribing HRT for their female patients, which indicates a real link, combined with this new evidence. 

More Comprehensive Breast Cancer Test Gets Higher Marks

We’ve all been reading about how technology combined with genetics-minded science have been coming up with some pretty mind blowing ways to help determine whether a woman is more prone to getting breast cancer at a certain point in her life or not, but there are newer and better ways being developed every day that we hear about that sound even better than the last one.  This newer battery of tests sounds like they may have finally hit the mother load in a more comprehensive series of answers to qestions that give a  more reliable idea of whether a woman is susceptible or not.

The newer way is combining answers to questions about a womans background, her age, of course her genes which are still tested for certain genetic markers that are linked with higher incidence of breast cancer, when a woman first gave birth or has ever been pregnant, and when a woman first got her period. 

All of these answers are combined into a sort of formula, and along with the results of a genetic test that is believe it or not, taken by a woman gargling with a special mouthwash and spitting it out (apparently the cheek cells that are washed out provide genetic clues that are valuable), and the result is, they say, a better and more on-target idea of whether women are more at rist to develop breast cancer or not. 

However, scientists do caution that not every woman may want to have these tests, as they are not perfected and no one can vouch that they are 100% accurate or even that they warrant such radical moves as getting double mastectomies or taking hormone blocking drugs, a move that is increasingly more widespread by women who fear they are doomed to getting breast cancer. 

Jen Aniston’s “Breast” Photo Shoot

Well, Jennifer Aniston just keeps getting better with age!  Ask any guy who takes a look at her dazzling new, barely there magazine cover and her spread within the magazine, and he’ll tell you that she looks amazing.  Even my boyfriend, admittedly not a huge fan of Ms. Aniston before, said that it’s very “hot”, so there you have it!

Jennifer Aniston has always been one of those women who is very blessed (and probably does a lot of hard work for it too) with a hard body – she’s very toned and yet still has these cute curves and a very womanly figure.  Plus, she’s always been blessed in the breast department, and it’s anyone’s guess whether they’re her own or whether she’s had a little natural help with her breast size, nonsurgical or otherwise.  However, in this photo shoot, in many of the pics she is wearing nothing but a tie, and she wears it well!

You can clearly see that her breasts still look great, just as they always have, and she exudes a sort of natural radiance and beauty that some may call girl next door, but I think she also looks very classy and glamorous all at the same time.  I’m glad that she got to do this photo shoot, it looks like she really had a lot of fun, and our favorite girl next door and America’s Sweetheart is really getting some great attention for how fantastic she looks too.

 

Joan Holloway on Mad Men is the Busty, Full Figured Woman of Yesteryear

I love the show “Mad Men”, which plays on AMC, their first foray into the big leagues for original programming, and to me at least, and others since they won several emmies already, a home run thus far and a signal to go ahead with more original programming, in the steps of HBO and Showtime both of which have some excellent original series that blow right past the typical non cable programming.

Mad Men is all about a time past, the late fifties and early sixties, where fuller figured women were revered, breasts were still catpivating men, and sexism unfortunately was accepted, even in the work place.  The show unabashedly shows men in higher positions demeaning and degrading the women that work for them, and also shows their objectification of women, but it also shows a turning point in an era past, with the women starting to get fed up with it, and questioning what more there is to life than cooking their man a meal and being a stay at home mother and wife.

One of the characters on the show is a very busty, full figured redhead named Joan.  She’s an interesting character, because she is a man-killer and has many gentleman callers, including the co owner of the ad agency she works for, but she still has a resillience and toughness that we can admire as a woman, even if she is considered “loose” by today’s and yesterday’s standards, she’s a breath of fresh air because she takes what she wants, is single, and has an unapologetic sex appeal and air about her for not apologizing for going after exactly what she wants.

If you don’t watch the show, you really might want to start.  It’s excellently written, and breathtaking to watch.  I have to admit, half of the enjoyment of watching it is the vivid colors and images fo an era that is remembered fondly as an age of innocence (although as you see from the show’s situations, it’s not really all that innocent at times), but it’s a time before rampant drug problems, teenaged sex running rampant, and early drinking and drug use, not to mention a loss of innocence just in hearing about things and knowing things that children should only know when they’re ready. 

Health Coverage Denied Because of Breast Size?

A woman in Sweden claimed that because her breasts were so large, she was denied health benefit coverage because she refused to undergo a breast reduction surgery to help her aching back that she says was the result of a fairly serious car accident.  She says that she understands her large breast size didn’t help matters, yes, but she also says that the main problem is attributable to a car accident, for which she was receiving relief treatments, but was refused further treatment when the breast reduction suggestion wasn’t well received by her.

I’m not sure how health coverage works in Sweden, but I’m pretty sure thay couldn’t do that here in the US, or at least I think so.  I may be naive, but I would think they could not force someone to undergo an essentially non-necessary surgical procedure, especially one as personal and close to many woman’s hearts as a breast reduction surgery, but I could definitely be wrong.  I’ve heard some insurance horror stories, but….

Genetic Test May Not Trump Family History for Breast Cancer

In surprising and maybe even somewhat disappointing news for those that thought genetic testing was the end all be all for testing to see whether one is prone to developing breast cancer or not, there has been new evidence that breast cancer may be better detected and predicted through a thorough look at breast cancer family history in the women in a particular family.  This supposedly provides a clearer and more unimpeded picture than a genetic test since it’s not always genes that are the sole cause.

Can you believe that those genetic mutations you hear about all the time in the news only account for about fifteen percent of breast cancer cases?  Talk about a long ways off from foolproof, this makes me think that most women would be better off to forego the gene testing and instead take a good look at their family history, and impose a strict diet and exercise routine so as to avoid the common pitfalls of breast cancer causing lifestyle behaviors.

This most likely means that physicians will be really looking into and asking a patient about her family’s history with the disease, which is a good thing, since it’s predictive powers are something to be reckoned with according to the new data.

Dita Von Teese to Pose for Playboy December Magazine

It’s no secret that part of a woman’s sex appeal is her cleavage – her breasts more specifically, and preferably breasts that are tastefully dressed and not just pushed up and out all the time, but rather subtly flaunted, sort of how busty babe and burlesque dancer turned model Dita Von Teese showcases her – er, well assets.

Ms. Von Teese, her stage name of course, graces the cover of a Playboy issue that’s dedicated to sexy women, and she looks flawless as usual.  What I love about her most is that she’s a classy throwback to women of yesteryear who flaunted what they had in a tasteful way, but she’s also got that classic beauty and femininity of yesteryear also, and isn’t one that is going to spray a fake tan on and wear the latest mini skirts, instead you’ll find her in clingy flowing dresses and other clothes of the like, all of which accent her every curve, but do so in an alluring, tasteful and sexy way. 

Ms. Von Teese, Marilyn Manson’s ex wife (yeah, it doesn’t make sense to us either, especially after he hooked up with a much younger, much less classy lady afterwards, and supposedly during the marriage as well), is baring her whole body for the men’s magazine that is known for showing lots of cleavage and bare breasts in it’s pages – but she’s posing for the German version of the magazine.

Playboy has long had a penchant for getting big stars to do their photo shoots, because they always do them tastefully and doing a Playboy spread is not the same thing as doing one for one of the raunchier men’s magazines, and women like that – even women like to look at Playboys! 

It’s All in the Bra You Wear…

We went out last night to a local winery with some friends and I ended up wearing a body hugging, longer style stretchy turtle neck that definitely required me to wear a bra that outline the shape of my breasts nicely but didn’t make them look padded or weirdly shaped, so I ended up choosing one of my oldie but goody bras that is a thinner material, and not padded, but is very well shaped and has an underwire so as to lift and shape the breasts.

These are some of the best types of bras to wear with clingy clothes, even sweaters, because they outline and complement the shape of your breasts nicely.  I’m not really one to wear heavily padded bras because I feel that A.) they are not very comfortable, at least for me they’re not and B.)  because they tend to not do what they’re supposed to, which is make your breasts look naturally larger or fuller, and instead make your breasts appear as if you are wearing a stuffed bra.

Now, water bras are a little better, they are almost so realistic that putting one on makes you have the brief delusion that you have giant knockers.  I’ve only tried one of these on, I’ve never actually purchased one, but I did like the way they made my chest look when I tried them on, unfortunatley they made mine look too big and I decided I didn’t want to look like a fluzy since they would have poked out of my clothes in a not so natural or wholesome way.