Archive for October, 2009

HRT Patients With Sore Breasts Beware

You’ve probably all seen wide news coverage on this because of what a strong link it was supposed to be, the link I’m speaking of is between breast cancer incidence and the taking of HRT, or Hormone Replacement Therapy, which is a hormone (estrogen) therapy given to women that are pre  menopausal and menopausal, to help replenish their estrogen levels.  It was found that there was a strong correlation between taking these hormones and developing breast cancer, so doctors largely stopped HRT, except in patients that needed it for a medical reason that was fairly serious, by and large, and even then, not without a lot of warnings.

Since the stopping of HRT, there has been a fairly significant decrease in the occurrence of breast cancer, which only further proves the suspected link between the two, however, in women who still have undergone this hormone therapy, there is new evidence that suggests what may foretell and even stronger likelihood of them developing breast cancer from taking the HRT.

Women with sore breasts who experience this once they start the hormone therapy, are nearly twice as likely to develop breast cancer as women who do not experience this type of breast soreness.  Because of this, now doctors know and are aware that they should be asking the right questions of their patients, and stopping the HRT if there are additional dangers that they think may point to a patient’s larger likelihood of cancer development.

We all experience breast soreness at one point or another. It’s often caused by hormonal fluctuations within our body, the ebb and flow of estrogens and male dominant hormones in our body often make our breasts inflate and deflate, and often can make them tender to the touch because of this tissue expansion.

I’ve often experience a larger breast when I’m about to go on my period, and often will also experience and accompanying soreness or tenderness.  This is quite common, however, in the case of HRT, soreness can somehow indicate a stronger likelihood of breast cancer, which may be due to the subsequent irregular growth of cells in the breast tissue, most likely attributed to the hormones they are being given.

Need to Push Boobs Up for a Strapless Dress?

I’m having a slight dilemma now, in what to do to totally fill out and give a little cleavage too, in my strapless gown that I happen to be getting married in.  It’s an off white, satin gown, and it’s totally strapless, which usually happens to flatter me since I’m a small C cup, and my upper body does tend to look decent in strapless dresses, however, with the size I had to get, it’s a tad bit too big and gappy at the top, just a little shove up should do the trick.

However, I had the lady sew in some cups for a built in bra, and since I’ve been losing weight over the past few weeks, it’s going to be even looser, since we all know the first thing that goes when you lose weight is your boobs.  So, I’m trying to figure out the best way to get a little more push up on my breasts to make sure they totally fill this thing out. I went over my options, and here’s what they are.

I can use some tape to literally tape them up underneath my breasts.  I would probably have to use some sort of surgical tape though, so it would stick to my skin without constantly coming off.  I thought about this option, because I’ll only be wearing the dress for a total of about two hours most likely, but i worried that it would look, strange, so I kept looking for other options to make my breasts look as good as they could in a strapless dress.

The second idea I had was to use a pair of those chicken cutlet like inserts that are made of a silicone gel that instantly warm to your skin and mold to your breasts inside of a bra.  I had used a pair of these years ago, when I was in my best friend’s wedding and also had to wear a strapless bride’s maid dress back then.  They worked like a charm, but with this dress, I have a sewn in bra already, so I wondered if they would stay in my dress ok.

Since I wasn’t sure, I then tried to research other options, and I really didn’t find too many.  At this point, I’m going to hope that when I get the dress back from alterations (it had to be taken up a bit, was a little too long, that my muscle I’ve gained around my rib cage from working out like a maniac will help the dress stay up a bit better, ’cause my boobs may not do the job for me.  Either that, or I thought I might be able to stuff the pads a little bit more.  Ingenius!  I can sew a little myself!

Tiny Chip to Measure Breast Estrogen Levels?

Estrogen is one of the things that can feed breast cancer, and it is one of the concerns that doctors have as to the levels of the hormone in a woman’s breast when they have breast cancer, or to determine their likelihood of getting breast cancer, so they have been trying to figure out a way to measure breast estrogen levels without actually doing anything invasive, like cutting into the breast tissues (ouch).

They still may have to invade the breast tissue, but with a new possible invention, they may only need to prod the breast tissue with a needle that is headed up by a tiny microchip which can read the levels of estrogen inside of a woman’s breast.  But the implications for this type of minimally invasive therapy to tell what a person’s hormones levels are in certain areas of the body go much further than breast cancer treatment and testing whether breast cancer therapy is actually working in a patient by looking at her hormone levels when she is on estrogen limiting medications.

The implications may spread to diagnosing and successfully treating infertility in women (and potentially men too), helping to figure out the likelihood and the treatment of choice for prostate cancer in men, and basically any disease that has connections to hormone levels in the male and female body, which are unfortunately aplenty in the world of disease and physical conditions that range from burdensome to life threatening.

The idea behind this high tech, under development high tech hormone detecting chip is that it uses electrical currents to separate hormones from other cells, and then gathers them together to test for their levels.  It does this all, miraculously, on the surface of a tiny, almost microscopic chip. Of course, this product is years away from any type of release into physicians and oncologist’s hands, but it is nonetheless intriguing to think of how this could be used in the future of medicine.

Breasts have a high concentration of estrogen in them normally, and women with breast cancer have an even higher concentration of the hormone in their breast tissue, so this signifies a higher likelihood of a woman developing breast cancer, however right now the technology to detect hormone levels in a breast are highly invasive, with a large chunk of breast tissue being needed from the patient in order that a scientists/researcher may study it and determine the hormone levels.

Obviously, this is not preferable and results in a lot of trauma, so if a better method can be attained, that would be awesome for women everywhere.

New Drug Offers Menstrual Cramp Relief

There may be a new drug on the horizon that significantly helps out women who routinely experience painful periods.  Many women are affected more so than others by their monthly menstrual cycle by things like breast tenderness, severe cramps, severe moodiness, and even side effects like migraine headaches and other unpleasant health related issues.  The drug, which is only identified tentatively by a boring series of numbers and letters, may be somewhat of a niche blockbuster drugs if it performs well in trials on patients that have issues with menstrual pain every month.

So far it is the only drug that targets the muscles that make the uterus contract specifically, which makes it the most targeted drug developed for the specific purpose of reducing muscle induced cramps during a woman’s period.  I didn’t read about any known side effects yet, but there are bound to be at least a few as with most other pharmaceutical drugs on the market today.  If you have serious problems with monthly cramps, it may be something you want to do a little more research on.  As of yet, there is no estimated release date for the drug, as the release really still depends on how the clinical trials go.

Emotional Impact of Breast Cancer on Couples

One part of breast cancer that isn’t addressed nearly enough by the caretakers that are thrust into the situations, such as the hospital, medical centers and the oncologists themselves, is the fact that breast cancer has a real emotional impact on couples.  It often puts a strain on even the most loving and supportive of relationships because of the unresolved feelings of guilt, pain, frustration, and even resentment that may brew over the woman’s illness and her partner’s and her feelings the go along with the debilitating and crippling feelings that come with such a serious illness.  Especially the more serious the disease gets or the further into stages it gets.

There are a lot of things that couples in intimate relationships really don’t want to talk about because they are afraid it will make them look weak or not supportive enough.  Things like feelings of lessened sexual attraction, perceived selfish motives of wanting one’s spouse to be in good health, spirits and physical appearance. These things are not only embarrassing to talk about, but they are hard even to admit to one’s self.  Often times men feel guilty and helpless that they cannot help their wives or their partners out of their pain, and they also feel conflict because they feel selfish that maybe now their own needs won’t be met.

Here they are, threatened with the loss of their loved one, and also fighting feelings over viewing the breasts, which were once an object of desire and eroticism as the very thing that threatens the life of the woman they treasure, love and need, and who may also be the mother of their children already or in the future.  They face feelings of fear over being left alone, over having their lives as they know it taken away from them, and yet they don’t feel they can talk about this with their partner because she is already going through enough as it is.

Women have it even worse, because they are the ones that are facing the possibility of mortality. Women often feel guilty too because we often feel that we always have to be the consummate caregivers and providers of comfort and affection toward our spouses and any involved children, and when that prospect is threatened, women often feel conflicted over taking care of themselves properly and taking care of their families. They often find this hard to voice to their spouse, and this becomes a communication breakdown that can really harm the relationship.

Getting counseling is vital for any couple going through the journey of a cancer battle if they are to come through it intact and without any real drama or serious damage to the relationship.

Depression and Loneliness Equal Higher Breast Cancer Risk?

As you know, there are many, many risk factors that contribute to the likelihood of you getting breast cancer.  Number one is still supposed to be genetics, since there are genetic markers that can make you several times more predisposed to getting this common cancer, although I still believe personally that lifestyle and diet habits also play a large role as well.

And, of course, you know that lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and your diet regimen also make a difference in your risk profile as well.  That is why it’s important to manage these facets of your life. Well, there is another one that you may want to closely manage now as well, and unfortunately managing it isn’t so easy for some of us, especially those of us  who are naturall prone to it or have livelihoods where it happens to be a natural biproduct of what we do. I’m talking about stress.

Not just stress though, isolation.  In other words, it has been found that isolation in women many times is accompanied by stress and anxiety, which has been shown to be linked to higher risk of breast cancer.  Studies were actually done on mice, who have biological systems much like us humans, and it was found that when they were witheld from socialization and put in an isolated situation, the stress that was caused by the isolation altered the way the genes acted, making it more likely they would succumb to abnormal cell growth (aka cancer) of the breast tissue.

This led researchers to believe that stressful lifestyles definitely can lend a hand to determining whether someone will develop cancerous growth of tissues that are prone to cancer from the beginning.  If one can control their stress better, obviously this is better for your overall health, and also contributes to lessening of heart disease and other stress triggered and aggravated conditions, but it also now can definitely help with the likelihood of developing breast cancer in females.

Marines with Breast Cancer Say Water Culprit

I read a really startling story, not to mention sad, about a group of about 20 marines that served their country at US camp Lejeune for years, and later turned up all having breast cancer at various stages – an extremely rare disease for men.  To give you an idea of how rare breast cancer is for men, only about 2,000 men in the US were diagnosed with breast cancer last year.  That means that 20 men who all happened to drink the same drinking water and all happened to be stationed at Camp Lejeune around the same time is pretty darn coincidental, if not downright hard evidence that the drinking water is to blame.

The story goes that the drinking water in Camp Lejeune has been contaminated with various toxic solvents since the mid eighties. The water system which comes from wells was thought to contribute to different illnesses, the most serious being these 20 cases of breast cancer that have popped up in men.  The existence of breast cancer in men is very rare, and because men have different hormonal systems than women, it may also be a little trickier to actually treat and diagnose correctly.

Many times men, like women, will have to have one or both of their breasts removed, and also like women, their severity can differ between localized and metastatic (spreading) breast cancer, which invades other areas of the body and that’s when it becomes particularly deadly and dangerous to other areas of the body and other bodily functions that are vital to survival.

Investigations have supposedly been made into the allegations that the drinking water was toxic and nothing was done about it in a timely fashion, but doubt has been cast on the witnesses who were interviewed and how forthright they were being, perhaps out of fear for their jobs, but it seemed likely they may have been coached to give certain answers and to absolve the Marine Corp or any wrongdoing in the case.  More to come on this very sad, but very interesting and telling story.

It’s also a sign that you and I should really be vigilant in making sure our drinking water is safe and pure to use.  After all, you are what you eat and drink, and who wants to be drinking in chemicals that are known cancer causing agents?

Avastin Drug Trials Stopped

A new and promising breast cancer drug called Avastin was being clinically trialed in patients with breast cancer, when the trials were recently stopped due to potential signs of heart failure in six of the 200 patients who were enrolled in the trials started to show signs of possible heart failure. The drug is actually already approved as part of therapy for various other kinds of cancer, and was undergoing trials to see if it could help treat and cure breast cancer.  It’s a shame it was found to have potentially serious side effects, as we can use all the effective drugs in our corner as we can get when it comes to invasive breast cancer.

The studies that were being done with the 200 patients who were enrolled voluntarily were how the Avastin drug might work in combination with the most common type of treatment for most cancers (and in my opinion the most deadly), chemotherapy.  The drugmaker Roche, who I’m sure is disappointed since Avastin is their biggest seller currently, said they halted the trials when patients who were in the early stages of breast cancer began to exhibit symptoms of heart failure, which included shortness of breath, fatigue, and swelling in certain tell tale parts of the body which are traditionally indicative of heart failure.

Since the study was halted after the agreement that it would be halted if six in the first 200 exhibited any types of signs of heart failure, since this was a study to help determine it’s safety for the heart, five of the six patients have totally returned to normal heart function, while it is unclear whether the last person has returned to normal.  It is not clear whether the combination with chemotherapy had anything to do with the side effects that occurred that may have affected heart function, but to me it wouldn’t be surprising since chemotherapy is toxic to so many different organs in the human body.

This is obviously a disappointment that we don’t have another viable and somewhat safe alternative for treating breast cancer, but I’m sure there will be more trials that the medical community comes up with in the future, it’s just a matter of how safe and when they come up with them.  For now, it looks like Avastin may not be an option offered for the treatment of breast cancer, at least not in the dosage and specifics that were administered for this trial.

Big Brother’s Jordan : Breast Implants?

I always write about the show Big Brother and it’s female star’s breasts, well, more specifically, their usually enhanced assets, so this year is no exception. I’m a big fan of the show Big Brother, and this season was no exception.  Jordan, the bubbly innocent blond from the south with the irresistably adorable southern drawl, took the $500k prize this time, promising to put a down payment on a new home for her mom and family since they had lost their home recently.

She played under the radar until the last few contests, and then showed her competitive side by winning a few of the competitions and going up against Natalie, who was not as popular a contestant as Kevin, which ended up being a smart move since she took I think all but two of the final two votes and ran with the money pretty quickly.  I couldn’t help but notice the hurt look on Natalie’s face as two of her former allies voted for Jordan instead of her. I guess that someone really turned the jury house against her, because that sort of stuff rarely happens on Big Brother, and I don’t think that her attitude and king’s blow up crown and staff helped her any when she was head of household and acting cocky.

I think it also didn’t help that she was exposed for her lie that she was eighteen years old and she was really 24 years old.  Somehow I think her strategies all backfired on her because she simply wasn’t that likeable of identifiable to a lot of people, and that always helps you win the money in the Big Brother house.  Too many lies gets you nowhere whereas the right amount of lies can win you the money. And by the way, why don’t they finally increase the 500k to a million?

Anyways, Jordan was notorious for flashing her boobies around the Big Brother cameras, I even saw a still shot of it online, and they looked better in clothes.  My boyfriend told me that she got a boob job, by some of the conversations he heard in the house, and what he read online, which surprised me because I though her breasts were real since she’s kind of a curvy girl to begin with.  But Jordan’s breasts are implants, and seeing the picture of her topless pretty much confirmed it.  She’s still adorable in my book, and very likeable!

Milk Duct Pre Cancer Diagnosis

I had never known that there could be a sort of “pre cancerous” diagnosis of the breast (the milk ducts in particular that supply milk to infants when a mother is breastfeeding), kind of like the diagnosis of precancerous cells in the cervix which are usually due to HPV, which it is thought currently can lead to full blown cervical cancer if left untreated.  Apparently, you can be diagnosed with this fairly common carcinoma, which is a type of abnormal cell growth (cancer) that grows within the milk ducts of the breasts, but typically does not invade the body like invasive breast cancer does.

For this reason, this type of carcinoma is not as deadly, in fact only about 2% of women die from it over the next ten years of their lives after being diagnosed, however, it is still important to get it treated either via some sort of radiation or even chemo, or a surgery, so that it does not become invasive.  It is thought but not completely proven that if it is left untreated, much like HPV cells on the cervix, it could indeed become cancerous and invasive and require much more serious treatment and become a much more serious diagnosis.

Doctors want to be able to call this precancerous stage something other than the current term “carcinoma” because they feel that some of the other names for it that are floating around, such as precancer or stage 0 breast cancer are less scary and more patient friendly. They feel that these names, rather than carcinoma, which is obviously always mentally associated with serious cancers, more adequately addresses what it is while conveying to the patient that it is not very serious of life threatening, and yet it does need to be treated effectively to prevent any future problems.

The whole problem with this precancerous growth in the breast’s milk ducts is that doctors do not currently have any way of identifying patients with any sort of certainty who are truly a high risk for having the cancer come back as a full blown invasive breast cancer.  Sure, they should treat it anyways, but it would be nice to be able to accurately identify the patients who are at higher risk to determine what type of treatment to pursue, and identify their risk factors to communicate this to the patient.  Some women even have the breast removed to prevent a possibility of invasive breast cancer in the future, and if that sort of traumatic experience isn’t necessary, then why put the patient through all of that?