Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is something that every woman thinks she knows all about: Look for lumps, have mammograms, see your doctor.  But none of that will save you from one silent breast cancer killer that women know virtually nothing about.  It's called Inflammatory Breast Cancer, and it's something every woman must know about.

IBC accounts for about 6% of all invasive breast cancer cases.  Awareness of this form of breast cancer is critical because IBC is rarely seen on routine mammograms (in fact, you could say, it's essentially never seen), and doesn't present the usual lump women are told to look for.  Chances are, your doctor has heard about IBC in medical school, but has never seen an actual case.  As a result, it is often misdiagnosed until it's too late to treat it effectively.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is the most aggressive type of breast cancer.  It appears in sheets of cancer (or cancer nests).  These cancer cells clog breast tissue vessels (another source says they block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast).  It's called "inflammatory", because the breast often looks swollen and red — "inflamed".

Know the symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer:

Signs of Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) can appear quickly, sometimes overnight.  The first indications might look something like an insect bite; but, it does not respond to antibiotic treatment.  The classic symptom of IBC is a breast that is slightly enlarged, with an inverted nipple.  Other symptoms include:

• rapid increase in breast size,
• redness,
• skin hot to the touch,
• persistent itching,
• an orange peel texture to the breast, and
• thickening of breast tissue.

It's important to understand your breast.  The best way to detect IBC is to know the warning signs and ask for an MRI or a biopsy for detection.  You can find more information at KOMONews.com.

More on breast cancer

In an article from the BBC News (July 15, 2008) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reveiws (July 2008, Issue 3), the recommendation is made for women to get to know their breasts, to clearly identify what is normal, and check them regularly for signs of any change, but in a way that feels natural to them.

This study pointed out that following a strict examination routine can be counterproductive, since two large studies, involving more than 388,000 women, found that death rates from breast cancer were the same among women who rigourously self-examined and those who did not.  There were also almost twice the number of biopsies performed among those in the self-examination group.  As a result, many experts are recommending the more relaxed approach, known as "breast awareness".

Things to watch for include:

• A new lump or hard knot found in your breast or armpit,
• Dimpling, puckering or indention in your breast or nipple,
• Change in the size, shape or symmetry of your breast,
• Swelling or thickening of the breast,
• Redness or scaliness of the nipple or breast skin,
• Nipple discharge, especially any that is bloody, clear and sticky, dark or occurs without squeezing your nipple,
• Changes in your nipple, such as tenderness, pain, turning or drawing inward, or pointing in a new direction,
• Any suspicious changes in your breasts.

But what about mammograms? 

According to Dr Joseph Mercola, the "benefits of mammograms are highly controversial, while the risks are well established".  These include:

• a false-positive rate of up to 6% for first-time mammograms, resulting in "expensive repeat screenings" and "unnecessary invasive procedures, including biopsies and surgeries."
• exposure of your body to radiation that can be 1,000 times greater than that from a chest x-ray.  This poses risks of cancer.  "The premenopausal breast is highly sensitive to radiation," according to Dr Samuel Epstine, on of the top cancer experts, and "each 1 rad exposure increasing breast cancer risk by about 1%, with a cumulative 10 percent increased risk for each breast over a decade's screening."
• tight, and often painful, compression of your breasts, which can lead to a lethal spread of cancerous cells, should they exist.

Dr Mercola also points out that women have unnecessarily undergone mastectomies, radiation and chemotherapy after receiving false positives on a mammogram.  He also notes the fear factor.  According to Dr Mercola, focusing the mind on disease can actually trigger disease in the body.

A safe and effective alternative to mammography

But, according to Dr Mercola, there are safe and effective alternatives to mammography.  One of these is trans illumination with infrared scanning.  The option Dr Mercola recommends most highly is called thermograpy.  It is, in his terms, "brilliantly simple.  It measures the radiation of infrared heat from your body and translates this information into anatomical images.  Your normal blood circulation is under the control of your autonomic nervous system, which governs your body functions.

Thermography uses no mechanical pressure or ionizing radiation, and can detect signs of breast cancer years earlier than either mammography or a physical exam.

Mammography cannot detect a tumor until after it has been growing for years and reaches a certain size.  Thermography is able to detect the possibility of breast cancer much earlier, because it can image the early stages of angiogenesis (the formation of a direct supply of blood to cancer cells, which is a necessary step before they can grow into tumors of size).

 

Further reading:

• Thermography for Breast Cancer
• Revolutionary and Safe Diagnostic Tool Detects Hidden Inflammation (information about the Thermography Diagnostics Center).
• 11 Myths about Breast Cancer You Probably Thought Were True (a good, general debunking of breast cancer mis-information and some ideas on how to avoid it).
• Breast Cancer Prevention's Dirty Little Secret … (includes a link to a free report on Thermographic breast screening).

Source:

• KOMO News Special Report: Inflammatory Breast Cancer
• Major Confusion on How to Do Breast Checks

 

Housework and the Breast Cancer: The surprising health & wellness benefits

I kind of hate to break this news to you, but it seems that doing housework is actually good for you.  Its benefits are even greater than going to the gym.  Just five hours a week can reduce your risk of dying by 20-30%.

One study, published in the journal, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, involving more than 200,000 women, found that doing the kind of physical activity associated with housework protected against cancer, even more than that associated with playing a sport or having a physical job.  It reduced breast cancer risk by 30% among pre-menopausal women and 20% among post-menopausal women.

Additionally, a study of 413,000 people found that those who were physically active had a 22% reduced risk of developing colon cancer.  Those who were most active were able to reduce the risk of tumors on the right side of the colon by 35%.  Said Dr Lesley Walker, of Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, "This is a very large study which should remove any doubt about the benefits of exercise in relation to reducing the risk of bowel cancer.  It is important for people to understand that … you don't need to join a gym to get the benefit of exercise. … Cleaning windows, vacuuming and scrubbing floors burn off a lot of calories.  So does gardening or cleaning the car."

Source:

• The Health & Wellness Benefits of Housework (Including Preventing Breast Cancer According to New Study!)

 

The correlation between light pollution and breast cancer

In an article in the National Geographic (November 2008), entitled "How Light Pollution is Ruining Your Health", mention is made of a study that found a correlation between hight rates of breast cancer in women and the nighttime brightness of their neighborhoods.  The point is: we may feel more comfortable having more light at night, but this practice disrupts cyclical functions in the body, sometimes with dire consequences.

A group of cells in your hypothalamus, called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN), controls your sleep/wake cycle.  It works by picking up light/darkness signals from your eyes, increasing the amount of melatonin when it becomes dark and increasing the amount of serotonin and cortisol when it becomes light.

According to Dr Joseph Mercola, melatonin radically decreases your risk of cancer.  The more your sleep is disrupted by light pollution, the lower your melatonin levels and the greater your risk of developing cancer.  Part of this mechanism is that melatonin triggers a host of biochemical activities, including the nocturnal reduction of the body's estrogen levels.  Since high estrogen levels are linked to cancers, light pollution — and the consequent reduction of melatonin levels in the body — increases your risk of developing cancer.

Dr Mercola's recommendation is to sleep in a pitch-black bedroom, so dark that you can't see your hand in front of your face.  He even recommends getting rid of your clock radio and avoiding night lights.

 

Other lighting issues:

Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival, by T. S. Wiley and Bent Formby

Dr Mercola recommends reading the book, Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival, by T. S. Wiley and Bent Formby.  The authors believe that it is light, not what we eat or whether we exercise, that causes obesity — and diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  This may stray far afield from what is conventionally believed, but it really does make sense.

There are many studies that link lack of sleep or shift work to weight gain.  I've also read that some research points to the presence of 24-hour lighting as a major factor in early puberty and the overall increase in the size of people.  (When I was in high school, our 203 lb linemen on the football team were a cause of something akin to terror to other teams.  Today, at 203 lbs, you're practically a wimp.)  There are other likely factors involved in this, including the presence of estrogens in our meat supply and estrogen-mimicking petrochemicals everywhere in our environment; but the constantly elevated estrogen levels resulting from a lack of melatonin is an interesting factor.

What to do about the effects of light pollution:

While Dr Mercola's recommendations may be a little extreme, it is important to take some action against the effects of light pollution.  One of the best things is to keep the lights lower, once the sun has set.  You can't go from a brightly lit environment to a darkened bedroom and expect to have normal melatonin levels.  Even better: get to bed as soon after sundown as possible.  Obviously, those who live in the real world can't do that regularly, so getting to bed as early as possible is your next best bet.  Every hour of sleep that you get before midnight is worth more than every hour you get after midnight, so plan accordingly.

Of course, sleeping in a dark room is important.  Even if you have to get up to go to the bathroom at night, it's important to keep the lights low.  Keeping them off entirely may not be workable, but use low-light sources as much as possible.

And, some experts recommend a nightly supplement of melatonin.  It really can make a difference in how you sleep and, from the other information in this article, it would seem to have many other important benefits in this light polluted world.  I've used the melatonin from Vitamin Research Products with very good results.

Source:

• How Light Pollution is Ruining Your Health

 

Breast cancer is not just a women's issue

While it is true that women are 100 times more likely to develop breast cancer than men, as estimated 1,990 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, and 450 will die from it.  The death rate among men may be the result of the rarity of breast cancer among men, leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment.  In fact, in one 2008 study, about 30% of men had advanced stages of the disease before they were seen by a doctor (compared to fewer than 10% among women).

Among the risk factors for male breast cancer are obesity and estrogen exposure.  Signs to watch for include:

• Dimpling or puckering in your skin,
• A change in nipple shape (such as indentation),
• Scaling or redness of your nipple or breast skin,
• Nipple discharge.

Source:

• Male Breast Cancer: Signs, Symptoms, Prevention and Other Important Facts