One risk factor for breast cancer is hormone stimulation. One way to stimulate hormones is hormone replacement therapy. Hormone replacement therapy was a popular treatment for women going through menopause. It was used to control the mood swings and other menopause symptoms. The hormone commonly being replaced was estrogen, with progesterone sometimes being used as well. The greatest risk comes from using a combination of progesterone and estrogen.

One other way for hormone stimulation is an uncontrollable factor, the age a woman begins menstruation and menopause. If a girl starts menstruation before 12, or a woman starts menopause before age 55, she will have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. There are ways to decrease that risk though. If a woman has a full-term pregnancy (38 to 40 weeks) before the age of 30 that may decrease her risk. Also, if a woman breast feeds her infant for at least 12 months or breast feeds several children, her risk may also be reduced.

Medication can also be used to prevent breast cancer. Tamoxifen is the most commonly used and others are being researched right now for their potential use in preventing breast cancer. Tamoxifen is often prescribed to women who have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, either because of genetic factors or other risk factors. This medication works by blocking how estrogen affects the cells in your breast. There are several serious risks associated with tamoxifen use however. These include an increased risk of uterine cancer, stroke and blood clots in the legs or lungs. You need to see your doctor immediately if you develop any symptom of these side effects.

Some women may choose to surgically remove their breasts in order to prevent breast cancer. This is called a preventive mastectomy. This is usually done by women who have a strong family history of breast cancer, as in several women (usually a woman’s mother, sisters and/or aunts) in the family have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This surgery reduces the risk of breast cancer by as much as 90%.

Another type of surgery that may be performed to reduce the risk of breast cancer is a prophylactic oophorectomy, or elective surgery to remove the ovaries. This helps reduce the risk of breast cancer because the hormones produced by the ovaries increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. The genetic mutations that increase breast cancer risk may also increase a woman’s chances of developing ovarian cancer. By removing her ovaries, a woman can dramatically decrease her chances of developing either type of cancer.

A woman’s choice of foods and lifestyle may increase her risk of breast cancer. There seems to be a connection between obesity and breast cancer. Some studies have shown that obese women have a higher chance of developing breast cancer because of an increased amount of estrogen in their systems. Another study has shown that women who regularly eat high-fat foods have an increased risk of dying from breast cancer, not just developing it, compared to women from the same population that eat low-fat foods. These two studies suggest that an exercise program and a low-fat diet may decrease your chances of developing breast cancer. One lifestyle choice that may increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer is alcohol drinking. Studies have shown that drinking alcohol may slightly increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. This does not mean that every woman who had a drink to celebrate her birthday or job promotion is at greater risk of cancer. The study suggested that current drinking had more of an impact on the risk than drinking as a young adult.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to

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Tags: breast cancer, cancer risk, mastectomy, ovarian cancer

Breast cancer affects millions of women each year. Understanding, regular exams (both self-exams and doctor exams) and early diagnosis are the keys to successful treatment of breast cancer. One very important part of understanding breast cancer is understanding the risk factors. Some women have high risks of developing the cancer than others. However, even if you are not in the high-risk category, you still have the chance of developing breast cancer.

Here, we are going to discuss the risk factors and explain how to tell if you have are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Before we get into the specific risks, it is important to understand, that if you do fall into this high-risk category, more frequent exams, are necessary, as are starting mammograms at an earlier age as well. Typically, doctors recommend starting yearly mammograms between the ages of 35 and 40. However, those in the high-risk categories will need to start receiving mammograms earlier and more frequently.

Age Factor

The unfortunate fact of breast cancer is that the older you get, the higher the risk of developing the disease.

• Women up to 39 years of age, have a 1 in 231 chance of developing breast cancer.
• Women from 40 to 59 years of age, have a 1 in 25 chance of developing breast cancer.
• Women from 60 to 79 years of age have a 1 in 15 chance of developing breast cancer.
• Women from 80 to 90 years of age have a 1 in 7 change of developing breast cancer.
• By 90 years of age, a woman’s overall risk of breast cancer in their lifetime is 14%.

These numbers tell us that all women have a 14% chance of developing the disease in their lifetime. The older we get the more vulnerable our bodies become. Things were able to fight off in our younger years; we may no longer be able to fight off.

A Personal Historical Outlook

Your risks of developing breast cancer also depend on your personal history. If you have had breast cancer once and are in remission, the chance of developing it a second time is even greater. Studies show that women who have had a breast cancer diagnosis once before run a risk of developing it at a rate of 1% yearly. In other words, if you have been in remission for 10 years, you have a 10% risk of developing the disease again. The good news is that technology has allowed for the production of medication that will aid in reduction of that risk.

A Family Outlook

One thing women should understand is that simply because a family has had breast cancer it does not indicate that you are at a higher risk of developing it as well. There are several factors that are involved when it comes to determining family history and increasing the risk of breast cancer.

In some cases, breast cancer can be caused by abnormal genes that have been inherited from family members. These factors are distinctly different than those of the average age factors. Some things taken into consideration include:

(1) Immediate Family Members – Such as Daughter, Sister, or Mother with breast cancer.

(2) Multiples – If several generations have been diagnosed with ovarian or breast cancer, this could increase risk.

(3) Age – Younger age and breast cancer could signify an abnormality, such as 50 or younger.

Breast cancer doesn’t take sides, it can be an inherited gene from either the father or the mother. Regular testing, self exams, and knowledge can be your best defense.

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With several studies showing a relationship between fat intake and breast cancer, it is quite possible that the problem isn’t fat itself, but overall nutrition; people who eat more may be more susceptible to breast cancer. Over nutrition may also correlate with some of the other risk factors; females with lower food intake stay thinner and often begin menstruating later than more heavily nourished girls. People who eat more also tend to be those who can afford to - those with an overall higher standard of living, who appear to be at greater risk of breast cancer.

If fat intake does indeed increase the risk of developing breast cancer, what makes it happen? There have been many theories regarding this. Some researchers think it changes the metabolism of estrogen. According to a study, people with a high fat diet tend to have more estrogen in their blood and a lower urine excretion of this hormone. Vegetarians who eat dairy foods excrete more estrogen, leaving less in the blood than people on macrobiotic diets. Macrobiotic diet involves the consumption of organically grown whole grain cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits, in meals according to the principle of balance between yin and yang properties, in contrast to scientific dietary guidelines. Fat cells in the body can synthesize estrogen, so it is also possible that if you are obese you have an oversupply of estrogen in your body, which could heighten your vulnerability to cancer. However, studies aimed at confirming this hypothesis have been inconsistent.

It is also possible that cancer cells grow faster in an environment with a lot of over nourished cells and the fatter you are the more such cells there are for the cancer cells to grow with. There is also some evidence that among women with breast cancer those on low fat diets have a better prognosis than those on high fat diets.

It may be that fiber, rather than fat, is the more essential element. Oftentimes diets very high in fiber are very low in fat. It may be that with a low fat diet, it’s the fiber or the carbohydrates or the vegetables, which have replaced fat are the ones responsible for reducing cancer susceptibility. Several studies show that soy protein may be protective. Perhaps the problem is not that the Japanese are starting to eat fat, but that they stopped eating tofu! There is also growing evidence that certain vegetables, antioxidants in particular, which contain vitamins A, C and E, may be protective against breast cancer.

Vitamin A from vegetables (beta carotene) has shown in various studies to decrease the incidence of several cancer types, including lung cancer. A recent study using fenretinide, a form of vitamin A, in women who had had breast cancer showed no decrease in secondary cancers (metastasis), although there was a hint that there may be different, more beneficial effects in premenopausal women than their postmenopausal counterparts. Vegetables with vitamin A include broccoli, kale, carrots and lettuce. Folic acid and vitamin C appear to be good against all types of cancer.

You may do well to encourage your kids to spend a little less time eating fast foods and to eat a bit more low fat, nutritional food high in vitamins. However, it is not wise to expect miracles. Even if dietary change does have an effect, it is likely to be a small one.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to breast-cancer.treatment-and-guides.com/ Breast Cancer

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The Debate Over Asbestos Legislation

This year a growing legal crisis may affect you more than you could imagine. With proposed bills that would limit asbestos company liability and significantly reduce payouts, some worry that lawmakers who are in charge of advocating for everyday America may be pandering to special interests.

Prolonged asbestos exposure can lead to dangerous health conditions including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. Every year 2500 to 3000 new cases are diagnosed every year with thousands more outside the United States as other countries have been slow to adopt asbestos bans (though asbestos is not completely outlawed in the United States and exists in many products manufactured today).

The conditions are frightening and for the most part treatment only prolongs a person’s life by a short span. An indiscriminate killer set loose by the industrialized nations of the world.

So when someone is diagnosed what do we owe them? An apology for their terminal illness is simply not enough of a measure to compensate them for the pain their body, family, and spirit will have to endure.

The problem that lawmakers are trying to address is the abundance of cases currently sitting dormant in our legal system. The case backlog is enormous and often cases (if unsettled) take years before they go before the courts.

We have a duty to balance compensation and cases because if this system continues, the expected case filings over the next decade will create a standstill for legal action.

The problem with balancing is that each side will have to incur losses. The creation of a national fund is the best proposal but claimants have to adhere to guidelines that may eliminate credible cases (September 11th created intense exposure over short periods for example). The pool will receive less than if they made an individual claim but the victims will be able to enjoy their compensation before death.

Under current proposals though, that compromise over compensation would make the filing process futile. When looking at some recent settlements in the pool format, victims who would have received millions received in the range of low thousands.

So who benefits under current plans and recent settlements? Corporations.

Their civic duties should never be compromised by lackadaisical legislation that shifts some of the legal responsibilities from their shoulders.

It’s a battle that is even pitting victims against one another which is exactly what corporations need because a divided opponent never wins.

Americans have now put that question to Congress however.

“The ‘Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005′ came to existence shortly after March of 2004 after Pres. Bush. proposed limits on asbestos related “junk” lawsuits at a speech in Detroit. The Act would establish a $140 billion trust fund to supplant litigation as a means to compensate victims of asbestos and limit liability.” -

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Tags: lung cancer, mesothelioma