Breast Cancer…exactly what are we fighting?

For the month of October I will be exposing truths about breast cancer and bringing you some little known facts that may shock you.  If you listen to the hoop-la about how we are “winning the fight” against breast cancer, you might think we actually are.  However despite the billions and billions of dollars spent in the name of the “fight against breast cancer”, the fact is

there are far more new cases of breast cancer in the US and abroad today than there were 30 years ago

That’s per 100,000 women by the way…So we’re looking at incidence here.  (You can’t use the argument that there are simply more women on the planet so there are more cases.)

See that dip around 2003?  That’s when the huge study came out that said Hormone Replacement Therapy caused breast cancer and women stopped taking it in droves.  But look at it since then.  It’s on an uptick and it’s way higher than in 1975.

Death rates have dropped slightly, but really, they’ve barely budged.  (Maybe that’s because only $2 out of every $100 that’s collected for “research”  is allocated for Stage IV breast cancer research.  Read more here.)

Stage IV breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer basically mean the same thing, but statistically they are not seen as the same, and that’s probably why there a disconnect in funding for metastatic disease.  (More on that in my Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness post on October 13th which is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.)

And don’t let those “5-year survival” rates along the bottom fool you.  While it looks like progress is being made, detection methods are better, and these numbers represent an average of cancers detected.  We’re finding the cancer at earlier stages, and that increases the numbers for the 5 year survival, which is great, but I’m sure those women would really like to live past the 5 year mark… AND the increased incidence STILL means that more women are getting breast cancer than ever before.  All those extra women who are being diagnosed and treated are now are also at a 20-30% increased risk of developing stage IV breast cancer (or metastasis: spreading to another part of the body) and are at risk for a multitude of other ailments like heart failure,  heart attacks, and lymphadema.  While many women are living with metastatic breast cancer, I’m sure if you asked them they would rather not be.

Women don’t die of breast cancer,

they die when it travels or metastasizes to another part of their body: bone, brain, or lung usually.  It’s the spread that can cause death.  Some stage IV survivors are doing great and their tumors are gone! (more on that later in the month)

All this info might make you want to donate to an organization that could help turn these numbers around.  You would have to find an organization that actually funds research that looks at breast cancer prevention and treatment.  That would be tricky because organizations like Komen view prevention as education about detection and mammograms.  That’s like funding birth control by paying for pregnancy tests.  They won’t fund research for vaccines and true prevention studies.   You can “race for the cure” or “walk for the cure” or ” crawl through mud for the cure” but if we don’t know the cause, how can we find the cure?  I’ll never forget a conversation I had with my oncologist.

“I’ve been reading a lot about dried shiitake mushrooms and mushrooms in general to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.  They’re doing some pretty amazing studies in Japan and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital for breast cancer.  Do you recommend that to your patients?”

“No. We don’t recommend any supplements because there’s just too much out there and people can’t make good choices.”

“Do you know why I got cancer?” I asked.

“No. No one really knows in most cases.” she said.

“Then how do you know that this won’t help stop it from coming back?”

She didn’t answer me.

Yes, we definitely need better treatments for those who have all four stages of breast cancer, and research is delivering very promising trends in fine tuning the treatment using your genes for better results, and new chemo cocktails are being mixed up every day, but what about the prevention side?  Prevention from recurrence for those who were already diagnosed once, and prevention for everyone who else has healthy breasts.   I spoke earlier this year with Judy Fitzgerald. She is involved with bring a real and safe breast cancer vaccine to market in our lifetime.  She told me that the Dr Vincent Tuohy, the doctor who discovered the vaccine, went to US congress to try to get federal funding for testing because in animal testing it was showing 100% effectiveness in prevention of breast cancer with no side effects.  She said when they went to get time to speak about their work, no one would even listen to him.  Here is a well respected doctor from the Cleveland Clinic with world changing research that could save hundreds of thousands of lives, and the US government doesn’t want to listen.  Can it be any more obvious that the US government and the pharmaceutical companies are not only in bed together but they are humping like wild rabbits?  China wanted to buy Dr Tuohy’s research but he turned them down.

The vaccine isn’t really a vaccine. It’s a protein blocker.  So there’s no risk of getting cancer from the vaccine.

Judy explains,“There’s a protein in breasts that is only active when women are nursing, but because of all the hormones and hormones activators in our environment, it tricks your body into thinking that you’re still nursing.  So by blocking this protein, you block the cancer cells from forming.”  You can see the entire short interview here:

There are some shady breast cancer awareness organizations out there, but one company I love is Breast Cancer Action which does fund prevention studies and is very good at calling out Pinkwashing Companies….

For now, there’s a lot we know do on the lifestyle and prevention side. Did you know….

90% of all cancers are lifestyle related

This isn’t blame…this is good news. It means that you can make changes to create results.

What are you putting in your body?

• dairy products that contain the cow’s natural high hormone levels (even if your carton says “hormone free”), cancer-causing IGF-1, cancer promoting dairy protein: casein, and acidic lactic acid. 60% of all the added hormones in the average diet comes from dairy.
• Sugar infused, highly processed foods and drinks that feed cancer.
• Foods with soy protein isolate like high-protein energy bars
• alcohol…the WHO now states that no amount of alcohol is safe for breast cancer risk
• drinking chlorine laced water
• foods with artificial flavors and colors that tax your liver
• canned foods laced with BPA
• fast food, meat and processed meats like luncheon meats and hot dogs that promote cancer
• acidic bottled water

What are you putting on your body?

• soaps with anti-bacterial triclosan
• personal care products with fragrance containing phthalates and parabens that disrupt your hormones
• cosmetics and lotions with DMDM Hydantoin, and other chemicals agents (there are too many to list)
• pesticide bug repellants
• aluminum anti-perspirants
• fluoride and triclosan containing toothpaste

 What is around your body?

• cleaning supplies that you touch or inhale
• electronic and cell phones
• people who are toxic
• mind numbing videos and television
• fear promoting news
• plastic food containers

So…

• are we winning the battle against breast cancer?  From the looks of the statistics, I would have to say no.

• are we doing a good job with explaining breast cancer awareness?  Until I see ads that say “Save the woman” instead of “save the ta-ta’s” In would have to say no.

• are we making headway in the area of prevention?  Obviously not.

What do you think?

 

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Categories: breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, cancer, health, women's health

Tags: breast cancer awareness month, breast cancer prevention, breast cancer statistics, breast cancer vaccine, pinkwashing, reducing breast cancer risk