Dr. John's Health Matters
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The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
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Posts tagged "breast"
Tuesday, Sep 1st, 2009 ↓Breast Cancer: Risk Increases For Smokers And Overweight Women →
Sept 1, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A recent study published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology has reinforced the correlation between being overweight, smoking and breast cancer. What makes this study unique is how test subjects were not diagnosed for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which predispose women to breast cancer.
Instead, women with such gene mutations were excluded to allow researchers to concentrate on lifestyle factors such as smoking, exercise, nutrition and weight. All women analyzed in the study were direct ancestors of the first French colonists.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted on a sample of women without BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which are often found in French-Canadian women,” says lead researcher Vishnee Bissonauth, a graduate of the Université de Montréal’s Department of Nutrition and a researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: smoking breast cancer risk overweight obesity cigarette smoker gene mutation correlation
Tamoxifen ups second breast cancer risk →
Aug 30, 2009 (Presstv.com)—While tamoxifen has long been prescribed to treat breast cancer, a new study links the drug to the development of a second tumor in consumers.
Despite the development of many newer drugs, tamoxifen — which prevents tumors from being fuelled by the sex hormone estrogen — has still remained the gold standard in treating hormone sensitive tumors.
According to the study published in Cancer Research, the long-term use of the common breast cancer drug places the consumer at an increased risk of developing a more aggressive, difficult-to-treat tumor.
Tamoxifen lowers the reoccurrence risk of estrogen-positive breast cancers by 60%.
It, however, increases the risk of developing a second ER negative (estrogen receptor negative) tumor in the opposite breast by 440%.
Scientists urged women to continue taking the medication despite the findings of their study, adding that the odds of developing a second tumor is very low in these individuals.
PKH/HGH
Progesterone Leads To Inflammation, Scientists Find →
Aug 19, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Scientists at Michigan State University have found exposure to the hormone progesterone activates genes that trigger inflammation in the mammary gland.
This progesterone-induced inflammation may be a key factor in increasing the risk of breast cancer.
Progesterone is a naturally occurring steroid hormone and promotes development of the normal mammary gland. Progesterone previously has been identified as a risk factor for breast cancer, and in a study published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MSU scientists examined the genes activated by progesterone and the effects of their activation in a mouse model system.
Exposure to progesterone in normal amounts and in normal circumstances causes inflammation, which promotes breast development. However, exposure to progesterone in menopausal hormone therapy is known to increase breast cancer risk.
“Progesterone turns on a wide array of genes involved in several biological processes, including cell adhesion, cell survival and inflammation,” said physiology professor Sandra Haslam, co-author of the paper and director of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center at MSU. “All of these processes may be relevant to the development of breast cancer.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: progesterone inflammation trigger risk cancer breast hormone steroid mammory gland menopausal therapy
No Evidence Of 'Unhealthful' Relation Between Animal Foods And Breast Cancer, New Studies Find →
Aug 17, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Breast cancer is the 7th leading cause of mortality in the United States and results in approximately 41,000 deaths each year. Although genetic factors are important, there is considerable evidence that breast cancer risk is related to modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, body weight, alcohol intake, and dietary choices. The September 2009 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports the results of 3 human studies designed to better delineate the relation between animal foods and breast cancer risk.
“These studies highlight two very important points,” said American Society for Nutrition Spokesperson Shelley McGuire, PhD. “First we all need to remember that there are really no such things as ‘bad’ foods. Second, observational studies that show associations between diet and health need to be considered with a proverbial grain of salt. These studies clearly provide additional and strong evidence that consumption of meat and dairy products by women does not, by itself, increase breast cancer risk. Further, moderate and mindful consumption of these foods can be very important in attaining optimal nutrition for most women who often do not consume sufficient iron and calcium.”
In the first study, which was a controlled dietary intervention trial conducted in the United States, 35 obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes received conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) supplements or a control supplement (safflower oil) each for 36 wk; adiposity was assessed. In another study, researchers examined the association between CLA intake from natural sources and breast cancer incidence in a large cohort of initially cancer-free Swedish women for 17.4 y. The third study assessed whether the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products was associated with breast cancer risk in a very large group of healthy European women followed for 8.8 y.
These studies provide no evidence that animal-food consumption increases (or decreases) risk of breast cancer, although CLA supplementation may decrease adiposity (a major risk factor for this disease). In an editorial, Linos and Willett remind us that these studies did not assess the relation between animal-food intake during early life and later breast cancer, a likely important piece of the puzzle. Nonetheless, they conclude, “These data are sufficient to exclude any major effect of consuming these foods during midlife or later on risk of breast cancer.” Perhaps we finally have the answer to this long-standing question.
Journal references:
- Susanna C Larsson, Leif Bergkvist, and Alicja Wolk. Conjugated linoleic acid intake and breast cancer risk in a prospective cohort of Swedish Women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27480
- Leigh E Norris, Angela L Collene, Michelle L Asp, Jason C Hsu, Li-Fen Liu, Julia R Richardson, Dongmei Li, Doris Bell, Kwame Osei, Rebecca D Jackson, and Martha A Belury. Comparison of dietary conjugated linoleic acid with safflower oil on body composition in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27371
- Pala et al. Meat, eggs, dairy products, and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27173
- Eleni Linos and Walter Willett. Meat, dairy and breast cancer: do we have an answer? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28340
Tags: relation breast cancer animal product meat diet nutrition iron nutrition food meal calcium
MRI May Cause More Harm Than Good In Newly Diagnosed Early Breast Cancer →
Aug 13, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—A new review says using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before surgery to assess the extent of early breast cancer has not been shown to improve surgical planning, reduce follow-up surgery, or reduce the risk of local recurrences.
The review, appearing early online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, says evidence shows that MRI increases the chances of more extensive surgery over conservative approaches, with no evidence that it improves surgical care or prognosis.
Randomized controlled trials have shown women with early stage breast cancer who are treated with breast-conservation therapy (local excision and radiotherapy) have the same survival rates as those who undergo mastectomy. Recently, MRI has been introduced in preoperative staging of the affected breast in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer because it detects additional areas of cancer that do not show up on conventional imaging.
In the current review, Nehmat Houssami, MBBS, Ph.D., of the University of Sydney, Australia, and Daniel F. Hayes, M.D., of University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Mich., reviewed available data on preoperative MRI’s detection capability and its impact on treatment. The use of preoperative MRI scans in women with early stage breast cancer has been based on assumptions that MRI’s detection capability in this setting will improve surgical treatment by improving surgical planning, potentially leading to a reduction in re-excision surgery, and by guiding surgeons to remove additional disease detected by MRI and potentially reducing recurrence in the treated breast.
The authors say emerging data show that this approach to local staging of the breast leads to more women being treated with mastectomy without evidence of improvement in surgical outcomes or long-term prognosis.
For full article see link above.
Tags: MRI surgery early breast cancer recurrence surgical care prognosis survival rate
Slowly Progressive Weight Lifting May Be Helpful in Breast Cancer Survivors With Lymphedema →
August 12, 2009 (Medscape.com)— Slowly progressive weight lifting may be helpful in breast cancer survivors with lymphedema, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial reported in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Weight lifting has generally been proscribed for women with breast-cancer–related lymphedema, preventing them from obtaining the well-established health benefits of weight lifting, including increases in bone density,” write Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD, MPH, from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues.
“A program of controlled exercise through weight lifting may increase the physical-work capacity of the affected arm, thereby protecting it from injury sustained during common daily activities. Weight lifting offers additional benefits particularly relevant to breast-cancer survivors, including control of body fat and improved functional outcomes and bone health.”
For full medicle article, see link above.
Tags: weight lifting cancer breast lymphedema prevention bone density body fat functional health arm
Tags: prevention metabolic syndrome insulin resistance breast cancer obesity hypertension glucose HDL nutrition diabetes heart disease cardiovascular
Curcumin may Prevent Breast Cancer in Women Who Took Hormones →
July 22, 2009 (Naturalnews.com)—It’s not only estrogen that can spark breast cancer. Some malignant tumors are sensitive to the hormone progestin. And studies have shown that postmenopausal women who took a combination of estrogen and progestin in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have an increased likelihood of developing progestin-fueled breast cancer. But new research concludes a natural therapy could help. University of Missouri researchers have found that curcumin, a popular Indian spice derived from the turmeric root, could reduce the risk of breast cancer risk in women exposed to HRT.
“Approximately 6 million women in the United States use hormone replacement therapy to treat the symptoms of menopause,” Salman Hyder, the Zalk Endowed Professorship in Tumor Angiogenesis and professor of biomedical sciences in the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, said in a statement to the media. “This exposure to progestin will predispose a large number of post-menopausal women to future development of breast cancer. The results of our study show that women could potentially take curcumin to protect themselves from developing progestin-accelerated tumors.”
For full article see link above.
Tags: cancer tumor estrogen hormone progestin breast curcumin women woman female HRT spice prevention
Green Tea: Mixed Reviews For Cancer Prevention →
July 21, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Lifestyle choices are pieces of the cancer prevention puzzle, but exactly which steps to take remain unclear, even to scientists. Still, more and more individuals are incorporating small changes into their daily routine — such as drinking green tea — in hopes of keeping cancer risk at bay.
Is it working? A large new Cochrane review of studies that examined the affect of green tea on cancer prevention has yielded conflicting results.
Researchers looked at 51 medium- to high-quality studies that included more than 1.6 million participants. The studies focused on the relationship between green tea consumption and a variety of cancers, including breast, lung, digestive tract, urological prostate, gynecological and oral cancers.
The comprehensive review analyzed studies conducted from 1985 through 2008. Many of the reviewed studies took place in Asia, where tea drinking is widespread and part of the daily routine for many.
The review appears in a recent issue of The Cochrane Library, which is a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.
“Despite the large number of included studies the jury still seems to be out on the question of whether green tea can in fact prevent the development of various cancer types,” said lead review author Katja Boehm, Ph.D. Since people drink varying amounts of green tea, and different types of cancers vary in how they grow, it is impossible to state definitively that green tea is “good” for cancer prevention.
“One thing is certain…green tea consumption can never account for cancer prevention alone,” said Boehm, a member of the Unconventional and Complementary Methods in Oncology Study Group in Nuremburg, Germany.
For full article see link above.
Tags: green tea cancer prevention antioxidant diet nutrition breast lung digestion prostate oral
Childhood radiation ups breast cancer risk →
July 21, 2009 (Presstv.com)—Girls who undergo radiation therapy for childhood cancer are placed at an increased risk of developing breast cancer in the long run.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, childhood radiation for treating cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer in later life.
The more radiation a girl receives, the higher her risk of developing tumors will become.
The risk, however, will sharply decline in women receiving high doses of radiation to the ovaries.
Chemotherapy is not associated with an increased cancer risk among this population.
Scientists concluded that childhood radiation increases the risk of breast cancer in girls regardless of their age at the time of treatment.
Tags: childhood children child breast cancer radiation hodgkins lymphoma tumor female girl
Environmental Manganese Good In Trace Amounts But Can Correlate To Cancer Rates →
July 13, 2009 (sciencedaily.com)—In the first ecological study of its kind in the world, a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researcher has uncovered the unique finding that groundwater and airborne manganese in North Carolina correlates with cancer mortality at the county level.
Lead researcher John Spangler, M.D., professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, found that groundwater manganese appears to be positively associated with total cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer death rates, while airborne manganese concentrations appear to be inversely associated with total cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer death rates.
“People need manganese in trace amounts, but if you get too much of it, manganese can be dangerous,” Spangler said. “It’s my hope that the impact of this study will be to spark additional interest and research. This really just raises the concern that something may be going on and argues for further research into these issues.”
For full article see ink above.
Tags: environment pollution groundwater airborne manganese cancer mortality colon lung breast risk danger
Elevated Insulin Linked To Increased Breast Cancer Risk →
July 12, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—Elevated insulin levels in the blood appear to raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings are published in the online version of the International Journal of Cancer. Geoffrey Kabat, Ph.D.Increased breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women has previously been linked to obesity and diabetes. Both conditions involve insulin resistance, which causes increases in circulating levels of insulin. Since insulin is known to promote cell division and enhance breast tumor growth in animal models, the Einstein scientists reasoned that relatively high insulin levels may contribute to breast cancer risk in women. “Up to now, only a few studies have directly investigated whether insulin levels are associated with breast cancer risk, and those studies have yielded conflicting results,” says Geoffrey Kabat, Ph.D., senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at Einstein and the lead author of the paper. “Those other studies were based on just a single baseline measurement of insulin, while our study involved analyzing repeated measurements of insulin taken over several years — which provides a more accurate picture of the possible association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk.” For full article see link above.
Tags: insulin breast cancer risk blood circulatory women postmenopasusal obesity diabetes tumor growth
Link Between Migraines And Reduced Breast Cancer Risk Confirmed In Follow-up Study →
July 8, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—The relationship between migraine headaches in women and a significant reduction in breast cancer risk has been confirmed in a follow-on study to landmark research published last year and conducted by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The new study found a 26 percent reduced risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of migraines.
The study appears in the July 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. It was led by Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., a breast-cancer epidemiologist and associate member of the Hutchinson Center’s Public Health Sciences Division. Li led the first-of-its-kind study linking migraines with breast cancer risk reduction that was published in the same journal last November.
This time researchers found that the risk reduction remained statistically similar regardless of a woman’s menopausal status, her age at migraine diagnosis, use of prescription migraine medications or whether she avoided known migraine “triggers” such as alcohol consumption, smoking and taking hormone replacements. These triggers are also well-established breast cancer risk factors.
For full article see link above.
What Should A Teenage Girl Do If She Finds A Lump In Her Breast? →
July 2, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com)—If a lump is found in the breast of an adolescent girl, she often will undergo an excisional biopsy.
However, breast cancer is rare in adolescents, and the vast majority of teenage breast lumps turn out to be benign masses that are related to hormones.
A recent Loyola University Health System study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology suggests that a breast ultrasound examination might eliminate the need for biopsy in many cases.
Loyola radiologists performed ultrasound examinations on 20 girls ages 13 to 19 who had lumps in their breasts, including one girl who had a lump in each breast. The ultrasound studies indicated that 15 of the 21 lumps appeared to be benign, while and six were suspicious.
For full article see link above.
Natural Aromatase Inhibitors are Best Prevention of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women →
June 29, 2009 (Naturalnews.com)—One of the answers to breast cancer prevention has been right under our noses all along. When diets high in natural foods that inhibit the aromatase enzyme are eaten, breast cancers in postmenopausal women don’t get a chance to start, according to research from the University of Munster in Germany. Scientists there have found that aromatase inhibitors are what keep normal cells from developing to the point where they can be classified as Grade 1 cancer.
Estrogen receptors (ER) alpha and beta are proteins found inside certain healthy cells of breast tissue. Estrogen binds with these receptors to stimulate tissue growth in young women during normal breast development. As women age these receptors play an important role in the development of breast cancer because they can continue to bind with excessive estrogen produced in breast tissue through the aromatization process, even after the ovaries no longer produce much estrogen. This can lead to the rapid growth and proliferation of mutated breast cells. If the process of aromatization is inhibited, excess estrogen will not be present in breast tissue to stimulate the growth of a cancer.
For full article see link above.
