BREAST CANCER FACTS GREY TO BLACK
By Harry Chrissakis Herbalist, M.H.,M.T.
Breast cancer is so common now that many women harbor the fear of being diagnosed.
Unfortunately this fear is not without foundation. The numbers on breast cancer continue to rise in the U.S.
Why is this so?
Some say because people are living longer and as you get older the chances for getting cancer increase.
This may be true for cancer in general, but the average age for breast cancer diagnosis is 50 years old.
Then there is the idea that because of better screening methods there are more diagnosed cases, therefore the numbers are much higher.
This has some validity, however the fact that more women are dying from breast cancer than ever before, 40-45.000 per year, indicates that there are actually many more cases now (190,000 per year.)
Breast cancer has doubled in the last 35 years.
Watch a short introductory video
Now lets go into some risk factors. All the following increase risks.
1. Age – Greater chances as you get older.
2. Longer lifetime exposure to estrogen due to starting periods early and menopause late.
3. Excess smoking and drinking.
4. Use of birth control pills and H.R.T.
5. Diets high in poor quality fats
6. Never having had children.
7. First degree relative has or had cancer.
8. Genetics – Account for less than 8% of breast cancer.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that 80% of women diagnosed have no (0) risk factors!
Lets examine the idea of early diagnosis through better screening.
In order for a mammogram to detect breast cancer the lesion has to be somewhere between 8-10 years old and 1/4 inch in size.
For that cancer to invade surrounding tissue can take up to another 10 years.
When this happens it is called invasive breast cancer.
Invasive breast cancer constitutes 70% of newly diagnosed breast cancer.
If we put this together it means that 70% of newly diagnosed breast cancer can be between 15-20 years old.
From this we can conclude 2 things;
First; that screening methods are not sensitive enough.
Second; that most breast cancer is found quite late.
Many things have to go wrong in our body for cancer to develop and many more things have to go wrong for it to reach this mature stage.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women 35-55 years old.
What is called survival rate is based on a 5 year scale.
If you do not die within 5 years of diagnosis you are considered a surviver.
If you die in the six year you are still statistically considered a surviver within the original 5 year scale.
If you die from complications due to treatment I.E. radiation induced heart or brain disorder, it is not considered a death due to cancer.
Obviously something is terribly wrong with this method of calculation.
One third of women diagnosed with breast cancer will die within 5 years..
This statistic has not changed in 40 years.
Cancer in general, is probably the most feared disorder, but of the many types of cancer, breast cancer is very unpredictable.
Breast cancer has one of the fastest doubling times, in terms of tumor growth (how 1 cell becomes 2, 2 cells 4, etc.).
Doubling time being somewhere between 3-5 months and possibly as short as 21 days.
Recurrence rates are high, producing second line cancers more aggressive than the original cancer.
If this article shakes things up, I hope what settles out is a clearer picture of this epidemic disorder.
One out of every 7 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer within their life time.
That number used to be 1 in 30.
Lots can be done, most of which is simple, in order to attempt prevention and put the odds in your favor never to get breast cancer.
If you are diagnosed, lots can be done with natural medicine that would compliment standard medical practice.
Feel free to place comments or questions below.
Thanks for reading.