Archive for August, 2009

Breast Cancer Survival and Weights

In the latest news on breast cancer, it appears that lifting weights may help breast cancer survivors live to fight another day.  And many many more after that.  Let me explain a little further, actually what weight lifting can really help to relieve in breast cancer survivors is a condition that often happens that is caused by the cancer treatment itself, called lymphedema, where the arms and hands often swell painfully in response to the treatment and for a long time after the treatments.  Patients were many times told by their doctors, well meaning because that was the belief at the time, to avoid weight training because it actually might make the lymphedema worse in their arms and hands.

The latest study however, shows that the opposite actually holds true. It showed that women who participated in weight training exercises for their arms actually experienced lessened arm and hand swelling and less related pain from it.  It makes sense to not avoid weight training in almost any situation, as this has shown to have benefits way outside of cancer survival, with benefits ranging from osteoporosis prevention in women and hormonal regulation in women as well, so weight training definitely benefits women whether they are cancer survivors or not.

In the past, women were even advised to avoid any heavy lifting in their daily routines, such as lifting toddlers and other fairly heavy items that might need to be handled by them, so this even limited their functionality in their everyday lives to some extent.  Well, no more since the new study blows the lid off the theory that upper body weight lifting should be avoided in breast cancer survivors. Good thing too, because I knwo there are lots of women out there like me who feel like they would die if they couldn’t do weight training, which to me is the most enjoyable part of my workout.

Women who were in the group that worked out with weights actually suggested that they may have made their lymphedema better by weight training, which is the complete opposite of the former advice, but also could do with chance. The important thing is that they now know that weight lifting definitey doesn’t make the swelling worse, so it’s at least a neutral factor in the swelling, and will not HURT breast cancer survivors certainly.

Question About Bountiful Breast Experience

I received a question about whether I had an experience with the Bountiful Breast product or not from a reader, and this is how I answered.  I do think that this product for natural breast enhancement works, and I also like the fact that they have so many success stories as well.

Yes I did, years back I took this product for about 2 months to test it out. I was already a modest C cup, but wanted to see if it would work. I took the shakes with it and the L Tyrosine, and indeed my bra did become much tighter and my breasts did grow I’d say almost a half cup size. Read more about this here if you want, I actually talked about this experience in a blog Bountiful Breast experience.

I discontinued it because I did not want any more growth though earlier than I would have if I had wanted to see a couple of cup sizes. That is why I decided to talk about the product, because I saw it worked in just the short time I used it before I started blogging about natural breast enhancement. They are also knowledgeable and helpful with their customers to help them get the best results for their body type with the product.

Sherri Shephard Loses Weight, Keeps Breasts

Sherri Shepherd, one of the newer hosts on the View, has made headlines recently by dropping a whole lot of weight and going down several sizes. She looks terrific, and her big boobs are still there too. But she insists that she’s not downsizing her breasts, which apparently didn’t downsize themselves all that much even after the weight loss, because she loves her breasts. I don’t blame the woman, not many women can say that about their breasts honestly!

Some movie stars and celebs have undergone breast reduction surgery, most noteably probably Dolly Parton, who still sports the most gigantic breasts I’ve ever seen, but who definitely needed some sort of reduction due to back pain. Also, Jennifer Connolly actually had a breast reduction I believe. I remember when she first started acting she appeared in a movie about a boy being in love with her and infatuated, and I thought she had enormous breasts too. Those were the good old days, before breast implants were popular, so they must have been real, and apparently she did have a breast reduction.

She reduced them quite a bit, as she looks modestly breasted now. I’m sure that when you have breasts that large, it’s really a lot of pressure on your back and makes it hard to work out, run and do other things. Women who have naturally large breasts usually do say that they’d like them to be a bit smaller. So funny because most women want theirs to be bigger, hence the immense popularity of breast augmentation procedures and natural breast enhancement options these days!

Bebe Gloton, a Breast Feeding Doll?

Well, Spanish toy manufacturers Berjuan have certainly raise some hackles
by introducing a new, and very interesting, and of course very
controversial doll for little girls to play with that actually simulates
the breast feeding experience for little girls. I know, a little creepy, am
I right of am I wrong?  That was my first inclination about this doll,
because breast feeding is perceived as such an adult thing, and thinking of
a little girl having a doll at her breast is just kind of wrong to be
honest.

But then I thought maybe I should be more open minded and foresake my
naturally more American, inhibited ways with such taboos, and think about
the positives of such a seemingly odd product for girls.  Could it actually
be good for them, maybe teach them or plant in their minds that they should
breast feed when they are old enough to have children of their own?

Or could it be slightly brain washing and encourage premature motherhood
and promote teen pregnancy?  While I don’t see why this doll would promote
teen or early or wedlock pregnancy any more than a regular doll, since all
dolls are basically preying on a young girl’s desire to have a little baby
to take care of, I do think it’s a bit too mature of a subject to introduce
at such a young age.

However, that being said, do I think it might do some good and perhaps
change the percentages of mothers who currently breast feed here in the US,
and make for healthier, more boosted immune systems in babies around the US
as a result of more breast feeding?

Perhaps it might, but I think that’s still an adult decision, no matter if
a woman had a breast feeding baby as a child. By the way, the name of the
baby doll who breast feeds actually means gluttonous baby. Kind of a funny
name too, if you ask me!  The reviews from parents were a little mixed, but
most felt it was actually inappropriate for such young girls and they would
not buy it for their child.

Pregnant Women Beware the H1N1

We talked last time a little bit about breast feeding and how it could actually save childrens lives if the education and support for breast feeding mothers was increased rather than the encouragement of breast formula in poor or disaster areas as is currently mostly the practice now.  Well, I figured it was important to write about the dangers that the H1N1 virus, or formerly known as the swine flu virus, pose to women who are pregnant, and also to children who are younger due to a compromised immune response and underdeveloped immune system and antibodies.  This is another reason breast feeding may be important, it could strengthen young childrens immune responses to scary new flus and viruses that cause problems in those normally with compromised immune systems.

Experts are not sure yet if pregnant women are getting swine flu more easily than others, or even why that would be, but there is definitely a higher percentage of pregnant women who are being hospitalized for the virus when compared to the rest of the population, due to more severe complications, for whatever reason.  It is particularly dangerous to pregnant women for this reason, and so they have been cautioned to be extra careful about coming into contact with it or putting themselves at higher risk for getting it.

For this reason, it has been encouraged that stores of Tamiflu, which has been shown effective against the swine flu virus, be reserved more so for pregnant women, and that they be given priority to receive this treatment if it comes up.  There are no reports on Tamflu shortages yet, but that could happen, especially since experts are predicting that the H1N1 virus will hit us full swing in the fall, when flus usually hit and colds are extra virulent.  So far, the swine flu virus has proven to not be as bad as once hyped, and there is still research being done on why the deaths in Mexico were so disproportionate to the deaths from the flu here in the US.

What initially caused all the concern was that it seemed to break out especially widely in Mexico, and the deaths reported and feared were much more than they have been so far here, although we have heard periodically of people dying from the flu here in the US, but no more than any other run of the mill flu.

Breast Feeding Moms Need More Support

Breast feeding is definitely something that benefits a baby and child in their formative years.  It’s been documented over and over how much stronger breast feeding can make a child’s immune system, since the mother passes over valuable antibodies to her child through her breast milk.  It also has been noted that breast feeding your baby may enhance it’s brain, motor skill and cognitive development, which is further enticing proof for new moms to breast feed their infants, even though it often comes with several challenges and basically makes a new mom a slave to pumping every three hours, breasts that can be painful and sore, and a host of other issues that can happen to new and not so new moms.

The World Health Organization, or WHO, recommends actually that new mothers breast feed their infants over bottle feeding them formula that is inferior, as much as it tries not to be, to natural mother’s breast milk.  They recommend that a new mother start breast feeding her child within one hour of birth and continue for a year at least, if not more, depending on how quickly the mother’s milk begins to dry up and how much milk she is producing, since children tend to eat a lot more as they grow.

In fact, they recommend that a child ingest breast milk and ONLY breast milk for at least the first six months of life, forgoing all water, other fluids and any kind of foods since this is still most beneficial from a purity standpoint.  However, even with all these excellent recommendations, new moms often give up out of frustration on breast feeding within the first few months of having their baby.  They often suffer from soreness, difficulty in keeping up with the rigorous schedule, difficulty in getting the baby to latch on and keep hold of the breast for breast feeding, and other problems that make it too hard to continue.

Education and support from hospitals could help ease this burden on breastfeeding women.  I know from observing several of my friends who breast fed that it takes a lot of hard work and determination, and it’s often frustrating for them to actually follow through with it all the way because it does place a great burden on their bodies.  If they had more education and more help to make it easier, lots more women would probably be able to follow through with the recommendations of the WHO, making for healthier, better developed babies with better immune systems, which may translate into a healthier adult.

Big Brother’s Busty Mama This Year : Laura Crosby

Apparently Big Brother’s male contestants this summer weren’t all the impressed with the feminine wiles of bikini model with giant gozongas Laura Crosby.  She got evicted in week two, which by the way got ruined for me because we were watching it on the DVR since we can’t keep up with the show, when I read about it online.  Guess that’s one bad thing about having “news” at your fingertips twenty four seven though, huh?

The bikini model with the smashing body (I’ll admit, I’d trade hers for mine any day) didn’t have a conventionally pretty face though, but for the body I can see how she’s a model.  And I’m not saying that to be catty totally either, but she would have looked a lot better without all the gobs of mascara, much prettier without all the makeup, but that’s just my petty little observance. Does she have implants?  I can’t tell, but she may actually have natural breasts, I can’t see any telltale signs of breast implants, so she may be one of those genetically gifted tiny everywhere else but the breasts girl!

Laura played up too much on her femininity and tried to flirt her way into the good graces of the men, and I think that’s probably what got her evicted fairly early on for the show.  I only got to see the first show so far, and the second, so from what I observed she was flaunting herself too obviously for the men’s benefits, and some of the guys were actually turned off by that, and of course I’m sure the girls didn’t like it.  I would have liked to see her use wit or charm instead of her obviously ridiculous body to get what she needed, I’m sure it would have gotten her a lot further than the latter approach, which probably got her booted in the end.

Of course, I can’t blame her, being the tender young age of 21, you tend to have a different outlook and approach on life, and you also tend to use your sexuality to get a lot of things, or at least think that’s how you should try to get them.  Then you finally grow up and realize that people are either gonna like you or not, no matter what you look like, and you also realize that you look like a colossal ding dong “trying” too hard to be sexy.