You've heard the good news about vitamin D for years: It's a "miracle" medicine that reduces cancer rates by 77% according to previous research (http://www.naturalnews.com/021892_c...). It also happens to be a powerful anti-cancer medicine that can both prevent and help reverse breast cancer. It is also FREE from the sun.
Here is a compilation of expert quotations on vitamin D and breast cancer, cited from some of the most authoritative books and authors in the world. Feel free to share what you learn here with others who may also be suffering from breast cancer.
http://n-h-d.com/news.php?news_item_id=123
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Nipple Discharge
Nipple discharge – the release of fluid from the nipple – is very common. This is the third most common reported breast problem after lumps and tenderness.
There are 15–20 milk ducts opening onto each nipple. Discharge can come from one or more of these ducts. Nipple discharge can:
• be spontaneous (fluid is secreted from the nipple without any squeezing of the nipple or pressure on the breast), or
• be on expression (fluid is secreted from the nipple when the nipple is squeezed or there is pressure on the breast)
• come from one breast (unilateral) or both breasts (bilateral)
• be clear, yellow, milky, brown, green, or bloodstained in appearance
• originate from one duct (one opening on the nipple) or more than one duct
Physiological nipple discharge
Discharge of fluid from a normal breast is referred to as ‘physiological discharge’. It is usually yellow, milky, or green in appearance, does not occur spontaneously, and often originates from more than one duct. Physiological nipple discharge is no cause for concern. Milky nipple discharge is also normal during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
When is nipple discharge abnormal?
Spontaneous nipple discharge unrelated to pregnancy or breastfeeding is considered abnormal. In most cases it has a benign (ie. noncancerous) cause, and is more likely to be unilateral, confined to one duct, and clear or bloodstained in appearance. Nipple discharge associated with other breast symptoms such as a lump, ulceration, or inversion of the nipple requires prompt investigation.
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is an uncommon cause of nipple discharge. Few women with breast cancer have nipple discharge, and most have other symptoms, eg. a lump or newly inverted nipple. Breast cancer that causes nipple discharge is likely to be benign or early invasive breast cancer rather than advanced breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Growth Rates
Breast cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in breast tissue. These abnormal cells not only grow at an increased rate compared to normal cells but may also spread, invading other body tissues.
Like a lot of cancers, breast cancer grows by simple cell division. It begins as one malignant cell, which then divides and becomes 2 bad cells, which divide again and become 4 bad cells, and so on. By the time you can feel it, a breast tumour is usually a little more than ½ inch in size – about a third the size of a golf ball. It has also been in your body long enough to have had a chance to spread.
Breast cancer doubles 30 times before it can be discovered. The average doubling time is 100 days, so it can take 8 years of growth until a tumour is visible on a mammogram. Very fast tumours can have a doubling time of 25 days, and very slow breast cancers can have a doubling time of 1000 days. Research shows that tumours may vary their rate of growth over their lifetime.
Depending on breast tissue density and structure, mammography is usually capable of finding breast tumours at approximately 1 cubic centimetre. This is 30 doubling times and about 1 billion cells.
With such a long lead time before becoming clinically evident, there is ample time to put in place effective imaging and health strategies to monitor and reduce risk.
Like a lot of cancers, breast cancer grows by simple cell division. It begins as one malignant cell, which then divides and becomes 2 bad cells, which divide again and become 4 bad cells, and so on. By the time you can feel it, a breast tumour is usually a little more than ½ inch in size – about a third the size of a golf ball. It has also been in your body long enough to have had a chance to spread.
Breast cancer doubles 30 times before it can be discovered. The average doubling time is 100 days, so it can take 8 years of growth until a tumour is visible on a mammogram. Very fast tumours can have a doubling time of 25 days, and very slow breast cancers can have a doubling time of 1000 days. Research shows that tumours may vary their rate of growth over their lifetime.
Depending on breast tissue density and structure, mammography is usually capable of finding breast tumours at approximately 1 cubic centimetre. This is 30 doubling times and about 1 billion cells.
With such a long lead time before becoming clinically evident, there is ample time to put in place effective imaging and health strategies to monitor and reduce risk.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Think before you pink
Pink Promotions Everywhere
Breast cancer is the poster child of corporate cause-marketing campaigns, as companies try to boost their image and their profits by connecting themselves to a good cause.
Breast Cancer Action urges you to ask some critical questions before opening your wallet for pink-ribbon campaigns:
* How much money from your purchase actually goes to the cause?
* What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
* How much money was spent marketing the product?
* How are the funds being raised?
* To what breast cancer organization does the money go, and what types of programs does it support?
* What is the company doing to assure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?
In other words, Think Before You Pink. If shopping could cure breast cancer it would be cured by now. The breast cancer movement needs action from people like you to create real change, the kind that will create a better future for women with, and at risk for, breast cancer.
From www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org
Breast cancer is the poster child of corporate cause-marketing campaigns, as companies try to boost their image and their profits by connecting themselves to a good cause.
Breast Cancer Action urges you to ask some critical questions before opening your wallet for pink-ribbon campaigns:
* How much money from your purchase actually goes to the cause?
* What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
* How much money was spent marketing the product?
* How are the funds being raised?
* To what breast cancer organization does the money go, and what types of programs does it support?
* What is the company doing to assure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?
In other words, Think Before You Pink. If shopping could cure breast cancer it would be cured by now. The breast cancer movement needs action from people like you to create real change, the kind that will create a better future for women with, and at risk for, breast cancer.
From www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org
Monday, September 7, 2009
Perth family taken to court for refusing Chemo
Perth family taken to court to force 10 year old daughter to have chemotherapy
A father has been warned by a Perth hospital that if his daughter did not show up for chemotherapy, legal action against the family would commence. Tamar, 10, has had liver and stomach cancer for several months. The family had refused chemotherapy in the belief the natural therapy being used was more effective. The father, an anaesthetic technician at St John of God Hospital in Murdoch, told the court the natural therapy was working and that it would continue in El Salvador, where his wife was from. Chief Justice Martin refused to grant the order to the lawyers, clearing the way for the parents to treat their daughter as they choose.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/5910714/why-my-daughter-doesnt-need-chemotherapy/
What do you think? Should we have the right to decide our own course of action and that of our family?
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Reduce your risk of breast cancer now
The latest review from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), links breast cancer to excessive alcohol intake, lack of exercise and being overweight. Breastfeeding babies also emerges from the study as an important means of reducing the chance of developing breast cancer.
Making small changes to our diet, exercise habits and lifestyle can have a major impact on reducing our risk of all disease.
Monitoring breast health safely is also another option to reduce our risk by picking up early pathology before there are symptoms.
At last! Sensible research that indicates we can take control of our own health.
Making small changes to our diet, exercise habits and lifestyle can have a major impact on reducing our risk of all disease.
Monitoring breast health safely is also another option to reduce our risk by picking up early pathology before there are symptoms.
At last! Sensible research that indicates we can take control of our own health.
Monday, August 31, 2009
5 benefits of saliva testing for hormones
Look Good, Feel Great, Live Longer!
A salivary hormone test is a comprehensive hormone test which can reveal many clues about your current health which may not be obvious using other tests. It’s easy too - all you need to do is spit into a tube, so no needles!
1· Improve Your Energy!
Salivary hormone testing can reveal the impact aging, illness and lifestyle including stress have had on your adrenal and sex hormones which may be affecting your energy. These include particularly the hormones DHEA, cortisol, testosterone and oestrogens. If your stress hormone cortisol is either too high or too low or your oestrogens are too high, they may also be interfering with your thyroid and other hormones and robbing you of energy. And, contrary to popular belief, not all women have low oestrogen after menopause!
2· Look Younger and Live Longer!
Your hormone DHEA is known as your longevity hormone. While scientists are still trying to understand exactly how this hormone works, what they do know is that it that seems to have a protective effect on your brain, skin, bone and muscle mass, immune system, blood sugar balance and against cancer cells. What does this mean? Low DHEA levels have been associated with accelerated aging including thinning of the skin, wasting of muscle, bone loss, fat gain and cancer!
Having too much oestrogen can also increase your risk of certain types of cancer including breast, endometrial, ovarian, cervical and possibly colon and other cancers.
3· Lose Weight!
As already mentioned above, having a low DHEA means you tend to put on fat and lose muscle. Having other hormonal imbalances like too much oestrogen and not enough progesterone (known as oestrogen dominance) and too much cortisol cause you to gain weight and have difficulty losing it. Excess oestrogen causes you to gain weight around your waist, hips and thighs which is hard to shift. Having a high level of cortisol for long periods interferes with your blood sugar balance and causes you to gain weight around your middle. This in turn increases your risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease like heart attack, stroke and thrombosis (blood clotting).
4· Be Symptom Free and Enjoy Life!
Having oestrogen dominance syndrome causes a multitude of symptoms. If you suffer from symptoms during the week or two before your period like mood swings, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, breast tenderness, food cravings, bloating or painful or heavy periods, you very likely have oestrogen dominance. In fact there are about 150 known premenstrual symptoms and many of these are caused by oestrogen dominance.
Many of the symptoms you may be experiencing prior to and around menopause may also be a result of oestrogen dominance or other hormonal imbalances. Symptoms you might experience around this time include premenstrual symptoms, aches and pains, difficulty thinking clearly or concentrating, irritability, hot flushes and sweats, sleep problems, heart palpitations and more.
Low sex-drive, fertility problems, acne, fibroids, endometriosis, breast lumps and cysts, depression and sleep problems are also very often related to hormonal imbalances.
5· Feel Confident in your test results!
Salivary hormone tests can test more accurately than blood tests for the 'free or available' level of your sex hormones plus a few other very important steroid hormones. Why? In your blood, most of these hormones are bound to large protein molecules, which effectively make them unavailable to your cells. Only the small percentage of these hormones not bound to protein molecules (estimated to be less than 5%) are able to move out of your blood vessels and be used by your cells.
Blood testing doesn't differentiate between the hormones bound to protein molecules and those that are ‘free’ whereas saliva testing only measures the 'free' hormone level.
Blood tests for the stress hormone cortisol are also notoriously unreliable because when faced with a needle most people become at least a bit stressed which causes their cortisol level to rise and could cause a false normal result in someone with low cortisol. Cortisol is also best tested first thing in the morning between 6 and 8am - not the most convenient time to be having a blood test done.
Restoring Your Hormonal Balance After the Test
By finding out what hormonal imbalances you have, your treatment can be tailored specifically to those imbalances, which means you feel better faster!
And the good news is that you don't need to use hormones to restore the balance! Using hormones including patches, troches, tablets, contraceptive pills, injections, vaginal rings and intrauterine devices like Mirena doesn't fix the cause of your hormonal imbalances. In fact, they may actually cause other hormonal imbalances. And, while you use hormones your body stops making its own, so your symptoms will usually return soon after you stop using them.
Natural therapies on the other hand address the underlying causes of your hormonal imbalances which means that apart from a few basic nutritional supplements, you don't need to take things long-term and there are only positive side-effects!
To regain your health, happiness and sanity naturally, without drugs or hormones
Call Kris Kern today on 0414 247 155 (Perth)
Kris Kern, Scientific Naturopath & Herbalist
BHSc, AdvDip (Western Herbal Medicine)
Or visit www.HormoneHelpNow.com for your free report titled
‘3 Crucial Keys to Restoring Hormonal Balance Every Woman Must Know’.
A salivary hormone test is a comprehensive hormone test which can reveal many clues about your current health which may not be obvious using other tests. It’s easy too - all you need to do is spit into a tube, so no needles!
1· Improve Your Energy!
Salivary hormone testing can reveal the impact aging, illness and lifestyle including stress have had on your adrenal and sex hormones which may be affecting your energy. These include particularly the hormones DHEA, cortisol, testosterone and oestrogens. If your stress hormone cortisol is either too high or too low or your oestrogens are too high, they may also be interfering with your thyroid and other hormones and robbing you of energy. And, contrary to popular belief, not all women have low oestrogen after menopause!
2· Look Younger and Live Longer!
Your hormone DHEA is known as your longevity hormone. While scientists are still trying to understand exactly how this hormone works, what they do know is that it that seems to have a protective effect on your brain, skin, bone and muscle mass, immune system, blood sugar balance and against cancer cells. What does this mean? Low DHEA levels have been associated with accelerated aging including thinning of the skin, wasting of muscle, bone loss, fat gain and cancer!
Having too much oestrogen can also increase your risk of certain types of cancer including breast, endometrial, ovarian, cervical and possibly colon and other cancers.
3· Lose Weight!
As already mentioned above, having a low DHEA means you tend to put on fat and lose muscle. Having other hormonal imbalances like too much oestrogen and not enough progesterone (known as oestrogen dominance) and too much cortisol cause you to gain weight and have difficulty losing it. Excess oestrogen causes you to gain weight around your waist, hips and thighs which is hard to shift. Having a high level of cortisol for long periods interferes with your blood sugar balance and causes you to gain weight around your middle. This in turn increases your risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease like heart attack, stroke and thrombosis (blood clotting).
4· Be Symptom Free and Enjoy Life!
Having oestrogen dominance syndrome causes a multitude of symptoms. If you suffer from symptoms during the week or two before your period like mood swings, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, breast tenderness, food cravings, bloating or painful or heavy periods, you very likely have oestrogen dominance. In fact there are about 150 known premenstrual symptoms and many of these are caused by oestrogen dominance.
Many of the symptoms you may be experiencing prior to and around menopause may also be a result of oestrogen dominance or other hormonal imbalances. Symptoms you might experience around this time include premenstrual symptoms, aches and pains, difficulty thinking clearly or concentrating, irritability, hot flushes and sweats, sleep problems, heart palpitations and more.
Low sex-drive, fertility problems, acne, fibroids, endometriosis, breast lumps and cysts, depression and sleep problems are also very often related to hormonal imbalances.
5· Feel Confident in your test results!
Salivary hormone tests can test more accurately than blood tests for the 'free or available' level of your sex hormones plus a few other very important steroid hormones. Why? In your blood, most of these hormones are bound to large protein molecules, which effectively make them unavailable to your cells. Only the small percentage of these hormones not bound to protein molecules (estimated to be less than 5%) are able to move out of your blood vessels and be used by your cells.
Blood testing doesn't differentiate between the hormones bound to protein molecules and those that are ‘free’ whereas saliva testing only measures the 'free' hormone level.
Blood tests for the stress hormone cortisol are also notoriously unreliable because when faced with a needle most people become at least a bit stressed which causes their cortisol level to rise and could cause a false normal result in someone with low cortisol. Cortisol is also best tested first thing in the morning between 6 and 8am - not the most convenient time to be having a blood test done.
Restoring Your Hormonal Balance After the Test
By finding out what hormonal imbalances you have, your treatment can be tailored specifically to those imbalances, which means you feel better faster!
And the good news is that you don't need to use hormones to restore the balance! Using hormones including patches, troches, tablets, contraceptive pills, injections, vaginal rings and intrauterine devices like Mirena doesn't fix the cause of your hormonal imbalances. In fact, they may actually cause other hormonal imbalances. And, while you use hormones your body stops making its own, so your symptoms will usually return soon after you stop using them.
Natural therapies on the other hand address the underlying causes of your hormonal imbalances which means that apart from a few basic nutritional supplements, you don't need to take things long-term and there are only positive side-effects!
To regain your health, happiness and sanity naturally, without drugs or hormones
Call Kris Kern today on 0414 247 155 (Perth)
Kris Kern, Scientific Naturopath & Herbalist
BHSc, AdvDip (Western Herbal Medicine)
Or visit www.HormoneHelpNow.com for your free report titled
‘3 Crucial Keys to Restoring Hormonal Balance Every Woman Must Know’.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Are you into Social Networking Yet?
I was encouraged by family and friends to blog, twitter, network, link. Why do I have to? Who will benefit? When will I have time?
Once started, I have been introduced to some wonderful talent and so much knowledge. Where do you start?
Pick up some ideas from Alison at Business Women Unite. Alison asks: what are the benefits of joining these networking sites?
Once started, I have been introduced to some wonderful talent and so much knowledge. Where do you start?
Pick up some ideas from Alison at Business Women Unite. Alison asks: what are the benefits of joining these networking sites?
They all offer different things but by using these sites you can promote your business to thousands of visitors that these sites get every week which helps generate traffic to your business. You can expand your business by connecting and doing business with people from all over the world.
Sites like LinkedIn are based on the concept that someone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone else…and on it goes. They have applied this to business but you can also connect with lost school friends and work colleagues.
Whereas Twitter is different again and you communicate with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? It takes a bit of getting used to but it’s worth it.
On the Business Women Unite site there are more business related tools such as a discussion forum that you can use to ask questions, share resources and get tested business tips plus experts who can give you advice on how to increase your sales and profits, how to drive more traffic to your website and how to have a better lifestyle plus much more.
If you have the right strategy and the right approach you can turn a few minutes a day into thousands of extra dollars. Isn’t that worth the bother!
Do you like the sound of social networking and dont know where to begin? Are you a business woman? More information here: http://businesswomenunite.net.
From Jo Firth - for women who are empowered to manage their future.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Missed diagnoses: who is responsible?
When an early stage cancer is missed or a serious illness is wrongly diagnosed, many of us blame our doctors.
What has emerged most recently from studies is that diagnostic failures are often due to missed steps, so-called “process of care lapses,” that stem from both doctors and patients.
As empowered individuals, we can challenge the medical system, take control of our health and explore all the options. We can also make an informed decision based on harms versus benefits. However we have a responsibility to act when required, even if the outcome may be not what we desire.
This article appeared recently in the New York Times. Something to think about.
http://bit.ly/3pawL1
What has emerged most recently from studies is that diagnostic failures are often due to missed steps, so-called “process of care lapses,” that stem from both doctors and patients.
As empowered individuals, we can challenge the medical system, take control of our health and explore all the options. We can also make an informed decision based on harms versus benefits. However we have a responsibility to act when required, even if the outcome may be not what we desire.
This article appeared recently in the New York Times. Something to think about.
http://bit.ly/3pawL1
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Chemotherapy contributes to a quarter of cancer deaths: study
ABC reported on a study done by British National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Deaths. The study highlighted a review of late-stage cancer patients who died within 30 days of chemo treatment. One in four deaths was cused or hastened by the chemotherapy.
The ABC story is here: http://bit.ly/2R4jns
Note: this review was done on late-stage cancer patients and discusses the issues of the patient understanding the limitations of intervention with chemotherapy.
What do you think?
The ABC story is here: http://bit.ly/2R4jns
Note: this review was done on late-stage cancer patients and discusses the issues of the patient understanding the limitations of intervention with chemotherapy.
What do you think?
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Should Genes be Patented?
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Luigi Palombi, author of Gene Cartels: Biotech Patents in the Age of Free Trade. Dr Palombi is concerned that the USA have already patented 20% of human genes.
Dr Palomi said:
Nearly 20% of all human genes are already patented in the US, but is this grab for intellectual property slowing down vital, potentially lifesaving medical research?
Public hearings begin in some Australian cities from 3 August, discussing whether genes should be patented.
More info: http://www.aussmc.org/GenespatentJul09.php
Dr Palomi said:
We the people need to tell our politicians and their advisors that we find anti-competitive conduct unacceptable. That using the patent system in the way that it is currently being used to expand patentable subject matter to genes and other naturally occurring biological materials is unacceptable. That when it comes to the national security of this country (and health is a matter of national security just as is the capacity to produce medicines domestically) patent laws must not be so one sided in favour of the patent owner that national security is jeopardised.
Nearly 20% of all human genes are already patented in the US, but is this grab for intellectual property slowing down vital, potentially lifesaving medical research?
Public hearings begin in some Australian cities from 3 August, discussing whether genes should be patented.
More info: http://www.aussmc.org/GenespatentJul09.php
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Can You Trust Your Mammogram?
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on a large scale review of mammograms in the United States, where large variance was found in how accurate a mammogram was interpreted. The study found up to 30% of mammograms were interpreted incorrectly and the cancer was not identified.
Also reported in the story was another review of how well radiologists analyse diagnostic x-rays, that is, when they already know of the suspicious area. On average, it was found, 21% of cancers were missed at the diagnostic x-ray stage. In one centre, 73% of cancers were missed!
The story from the Chronicle here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/29/hearstmaghealth381278.DTL
At the moment, mammography is still the most recognised way to screen for breast cancer, and many countries offer a government screening program. However, there is an ethical obligation to look at other options for the many women who choose not to have a mammogram, or for whom a mammogram may not be suitable for.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on a large scale review of mammograms in the United States, where large variance was found in how accurate a mammogram was interpreted. The study found up to 30% of mammograms were interpreted incorrectly and the cancer was not identified.
Also reported in the story was another review of how well radiologists analyse diagnostic x-rays, that is, when they already know of the suspicious area. On average, it was found, 21% of cancers were missed at the diagnostic x-ray stage. In one centre, 73% of cancers were missed!
The story from the Chronicle here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/29/hearstmaghealth381278.DTL
At the moment, mammography is still the most recognised way to screen for breast cancer, and many countries offer a government screening program. However, there is an ethical obligation to look at other options for the many women who choose not to have a mammogram, or for whom a mammogram may not be suitable for.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Benign breast lumps
What is a benign breast lump?
Most breast lumps are benign (non-cancerous). All women have lumpy breasts: many lumps or nodules that women find are areas of normal breast tissue which can become more prominent just before a period.
Two common causes of lumps are fibroadenomas and cysts.
Fibroadenomas
Fibroadenoma is the most common benign breast lumps seen in women under the age of 35 years. These lumps are not strictly speaking disease at all but a simple overgrowth of the lobules or the leaf of the breast tree (tissue). Usually painless, firm, solitary, mobile, slowly growing lump in the breast of a woman of childbearing years.
Most fibroadenomas are 2-3 cm in size, but may reach up to 6-7 cm. Fibroadenomas consist of epithelial and fibrous components. Branching and budding ducts are surrounded by fibrous tissue. Involution (shrinking in size) is common with increasing age of the lesion. Rarely, fibroadenomas enlarge in postmenopausal women, with or without hormone replacement therapy.
If you have a fibroadenoma, it may not need to be removed. If left alone, at least one in three of these lumps gets smaller or disappears within two years. If you are worried about the lump or it gets bigger, you can opt to have it removed.
Cysts
A breast cyst is a round or oval fluid-filled sac with distinct edges. They may be painful. You can have one or many breast cysts, often in both breasts. In texture, a breast cyst usually feels like a soft grape or a water-filled balloon, but sometimes a breast cyst feels firm. Cysts vary in size from microscopic to a few centimetres. Cysts are the most common breast masses in women aged 30 to 50 years and usually disappear after menopause, unless you're taking hormone therapy.
Cysts can be painful and may be worrisome but are generally benign. Breast cysts can be part of fibrocystic disease. The pain and swelling is usually worse in the second half of the menstrual cycle or during pregnancy.
Breast cysts don't require treatment unless a cyst is large and painful or otherwise uncomfortable. In that case, draining the fluid from a breast cyst can ease your symptoms. Cysts do not need to be drained every time. Typical treatment involves a Needle aspiration biopsy. Aspirated cysts often recur (come back); definitive treatment may require surgery.
Of every six women who develop cysts:
· three will develop only one cyst during their lifetime
· two will get between three and five cysts
· one will have more than five cysts.
The breast goes through various stages during our lifetime. It may help to think of these stages as seasons:
· During 'spring' the breast develops and this is when overgrowth of lobules (fibroadenomas) occur.
· In 'summer' the breasts live through regular menstrual cycles; women often notice pain and lumpiness immediately before their period.
· During 'autumn' the lobules of the breast tissue can become abnormal and enlarge to form cysts. Cysts are a form of ageing.
What should I do if I find a lump?
Lumps are common, and the majority are not cancerous. Nevertheless, if you find a lump in your breast, you should make an appointment for breast imaging and have the lump checked by your doctor.
Most breast lumps are benign (non-cancerous). All women have lumpy breasts: many lumps or nodules that women find are areas of normal breast tissue which can become more prominent just before a period.
Two common causes of lumps are fibroadenomas and cysts.
Fibroadenomas
Fibroadenoma is the most common benign breast lumps seen in women under the age of 35 years. These lumps are not strictly speaking disease at all but a simple overgrowth of the lobules or the leaf of the breast tree (tissue). Usually painless, firm, solitary, mobile, slowly growing lump in the breast of a woman of childbearing years.
Most fibroadenomas are 2-3 cm in size, but may reach up to 6-7 cm. Fibroadenomas consist of epithelial and fibrous components. Branching and budding ducts are surrounded by fibrous tissue. Involution (shrinking in size) is common with increasing age of the lesion. Rarely, fibroadenomas enlarge in postmenopausal women, with or without hormone replacement therapy.
If you have a fibroadenoma, it may not need to be removed. If left alone, at least one in three of these lumps gets smaller or disappears within two years. If you are worried about the lump or it gets bigger, you can opt to have it removed.
Cysts
A breast cyst is a round or oval fluid-filled sac with distinct edges. They may be painful. You can have one or many breast cysts, often in both breasts. In texture, a breast cyst usually feels like a soft grape or a water-filled balloon, but sometimes a breast cyst feels firm. Cysts vary in size from microscopic to a few centimetres. Cysts are the most common breast masses in women aged 30 to 50 years and usually disappear after menopause, unless you're taking hormone therapy.
Cysts can be painful and may be worrisome but are generally benign. Breast cysts can be part of fibrocystic disease. The pain and swelling is usually worse in the second half of the menstrual cycle or during pregnancy.
Breast cysts don't require treatment unless a cyst is large and painful or otherwise uncomfortable. In that case, draining the fluid from a breast cyst can ease your symptoms. Cysts do not need to be drained every time. Typical treatment involves a Needle aspiration biopsy. Aspirated cysts often recur (come back); definitive treatment may require surgery.
Of every six women who develop cysts:
· three will develop only one cyst during their lifetime
· two will get between three and five cysts
· one will have more than five cysts.
The breast goes through various stages during our lifetime. It may help to think of these stages as seasons:
· During 'spring' the breast develops and this is when overgrowth of lobules (fibroadenomas) occur.
· In 'summer' the breasts live through regular menstrual cycles; women often notice pain and lumpiness immediately before their period.
· During 'autumn' the lobules of the breast tissue can become abnormal and enlarge to form cysts. Cysts are a form of ageing.
What should I do if I find a lump?
Lumps are common, and the majority are not cancerous. Nevertheless, if you find a lump in your breast, you should make an appointment for breast imaging and have the lump checked by your doctor.
The impact of being diagnosed young
Here is a story that hits home! This young woman was diagnosed at 23, after failing to convince her doctors that she had a problem.
We have heard this story many times over, about young women experiencing symptoms and not being taken seriously by their doctor.
Safe Breast Imaging suggests the two-step feel test: what does your breast symptom FEEL like, and what do you feel intuitively? If you think that you may have a problem, do not let your doctor dismiss your concerns.
Now there is screening available for women of all ages in Australia. It is safe, comfortable, radiation free. If we can pick up clues that may potentially cause problems in the future, and work on reducing our risk at that stage, isnt it a better strategy than waiting for a positive diagnosis?
Tell us what you think.
We have heard this story many times over, about young women experiencing symptoms and not being taken seriously by their doctor.
Safe Breast Imaging suggests the two-step feel test: what does your breast symptom FEEL like, and what do you feel intuitively? If you think that you may have a problem, do not let your doctor dismiss your concerns.
Now there is screening available for women of all ages in Australia. It is safe, comfortable, radiation free. If we can pick up clues that may potentially cause problems in the future, and work on reducing our risk at that stage, isnt it a better strategy than waiting for a positive diagnosis?
Tell us what you think.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Is breast screening good for you?
There is a lot of debate lately, following the release of the most recent study by Gotzche from the Nordic Cochrane Review in Denmark looking at overdiagnosis in mammography screening programs.
The topic: Systematic review of published trends in incidence of breast cancer before and after the introduction of mammography screening.
Here is the actual study from the British Medical Journal: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul09_1/b2587
Following the article are other relevant article details, and some "rapid responses" to the published study. Many of these responses focus on the issue of harm versus benefits of screening.
What do you think?
The topic: Systematic review of published trends in incidence of breast cancer before and after the introduction of mammography screening.
Here is the actual study from the British Medical Journal: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul09_1/b2587
Following the article are other relevant article details, and some "rapid responses" to the published study. Many of these responses focus on the issue of harm versus benefits of screening.
What do you think?
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