Interesting combination… Coincidence or Not
- These two — affect me personally. I decided to investigate the correlation between a vegetarian diet and breast cancer. The American Cancer Society’s statistics are sobering.
- An estimated 182,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2010.
- Approximately 42,200 deaths will occur in women from breast cancer in 2010.
- One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
- Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.
- Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.
- Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.
- Approximately 1400 cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2010 and 400 of those men will die.
- More than 1.7 million women who have had breast cancer are still alive in the United States.
- Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.
- Seventy-one percent of black women diagnosed with breast cancer experience a five-year survival rate, while eighty-six percent of white women experience five-year survival.
I was convinced I would never have to become a statistic … I had none of the most common risk factors: I breast fed my daughters, I never took birth control pills, I had quit smoking and adopted a vegetarian diet 25 years ago, and there was no family history of breast cancer. THEN I GOT “the call” from my sister… she had breast cancer.
Now I had to reevaluate my thinking. According to a study at Cornell University study: “Having a family history or family member with breast cancer, does not play a large role in most women’s chances of developing breast cancer. Women with a family history of breast cancer make up only 5 to 7 percent of all women with breast cancer.” I was comforted with these statistics, but I wanted have a zero percent chance. I wanted to know what other risk factors are associated with disease. The American Cancer Society detailed other risk factors.
Risk Factors
Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, delaying pregnancy until after age 30 or never becoming pregnant, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.
Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.
Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years. Over eighty percent of breast lumps are not cancerous, but benign such as fibrocystic breast disease. Oral contraceptives may cause a slight increase in breast cancer risk; however 10 years after discontinuing use of oral contraceptives the risk is the same as for women who never used the pill.
Again, a sigh of relief. But, I was not satisfied by these very general variables. There HAD to be more, undocumented factors that were involved. I have heard of endemic areas that an unusually high number of cancer victims. So, there ARE MORE FACTORS. I researched areas where women (and men) rarely get breast cancer.
According to a study by Curtis Mettlin, “The lowest breast cancer mortality rates are reported in Asian regions, leading researchers to speculate that dietary, cultural,and/or environmental factors might be implicated in the etiology of the disease. I felt empowered by this, simply find out what type of food was common in these areas. According to the Mayo Clinic studies, Breast cancer prevention starts with your own health habits — such as staying physically active, limiting alcohol and eating right.
Can healthy eating and regular exercise really contribute to breast cancer prevention? So far, the evidence says yes. What’s more, if you combine these risk-reducing habits with limiting your exposure to substances that promote the disease, you’ll benefit even more. There are some breast cancer prevention steps you can control.: limit alcohol intake, maintain a healthy weight, stay active, and examine your diet..
According to research by Sharon Brock “Since Asian cultures have lower incidence of cancer, let’s look at what they’ve eaten for generations, as opposed to giving a small research group a cancer-fighting food and measuring the effects. Not one food, such as fish, green tea or soy, will make a huge impact on its own. But changing your overall dietary patterns and leading a more active lifestyle will.” O’Brien recommends adopting these eating habits from the Asian diet to ward off cancer and other chronic diseases. THE CONCLUSION.. Vegetarians and Breast Cancer go together.
