Breast Cancer - What Don't We Know?

[veggieprincess]

I was talking with someone about this a couple years ago.

 

Why is breast cancer so common now? What are the statistics, 1 in 4 women? Why now? What don't we know?

 

There has to be something going on that it is just so common now. I really hate to buy into conspiracy theories or "the world is out to get us" stuff, but don't you ever wonder? I mean, if the government ever hides scientific evidence from us because to provide it to the public would hurt the economy too much?

 

There are two things that come to mind with regards to how much cancer we have in the US now. Genetically modified food and the microwave oven. Now I don't claim to be well versed in alot of scientific subjects but these are two things that come to mind that I sometimes wonder if non-organic or GMO food is causing all this cancer.

 

I also wonder about the safety of the microwave oven. I try not to use it as much because I just wonder if we really know how safe it is.

 

What do you guys think? I know GMO food is bad, but do you think it could be linked to all this cancer?

[pamela]

I think it's a lot of things, GMOs included.

 

My cousin died of breast cancer a year and a half ago. She was 32. In her own reading before she died she came to believe that cow's milk, cow's meat and other meats had a role in her cancer. She was eating semi- vegan for the last year of her life (some fish, but no other meats, dairy, etc.)

 

I don't think it's just a coincidence at all that cancer's prevalence is growing. I just don't know how easy it is to pinpoint it to one specific factor.

[Zack]

Lifestyle. 98% of people are walking trashcans with the way they eat.

 

GMO's, Dehydration, bad sleeping habits, lack of exercise, stress, inadequate fiber, too much meat/dairy, not enough fruits/veg, pesticides, artifical flavorings/colorings in processed foods....the list could go on forever.

[beforewisdom]

I'm reading this book right now:

 

http://tinyurl.com/2l2z3v

 

It is about a non-medical research scientist who gets breast cancer. She survives by applying her own skills in science to discover that at an institutional level medical science isn't doing science as well as it could be. She then does her own research to conclude that dairy PROTEINS ( not fat, going low fat on dairy does not help ) accelerate breast cancer. She gives up dairy and her cancer goes into remission.

 

Beyond having really SOLID info about dairy, not web maven stuff, the book has many valuable tips on traps to avoid in seeking treatment for breast cancer.

Edited December 18, 2007 by beforewisdom

[offense74]

Lifestyle. 98% of people are walking trashcans with the way they eat.

 

GMO's, Dehydration, bad sleeping habits, lack of exercise, stress, inadequate fiber, too much meat/dairy, not enough fruits/veg, pesticides, artifical flavorings/colorings in processed foods....the list could go on forever.

*********************** *****************************

[beforewisdom]

There is a huge amount of environmental pollution that people could not do anything about even if they knew what they were up against.

[DV]

Depending on what statistics you read, there are many ways to interpret rates of breast cancer in the U.S. (and other countries). I recently read a statistic that points to a reduction in breast cancer that the authors blame on fewer women getting mammograms, therefore fewer cancers being discovered at an early stage.

 

Some breast cancers respond to estrogen (by growing) and some do not. Therefore, different cancers will react to different environments. I'm sure that what we eat, what drugs we take, what chemicals we are exposed to, how much fat we carry (fat is hormonally active), our fitness level (exercise alters hormones) and our genetic disposition all have an effect on our body's ability to correct cancerous growth.

 

Having looked into the physics behind microwave technology, I completely doubt that it causes cancer. However, I know there's a lot of what I refer to as pseudo science written about microwaves. So differing opinions are out there.

 

Since the compounds found in vegetables and fruits have been shown to frequently inhibit cancerous growth, I would blame our current societies' lack of adequate plant intake (rather than GMO's) on some of the increase in cancer rates. Just my opinion.

[veggieprincess]

I'm reading this book right now:

 

http://tinyurl.com/2l2z3v

 

It is about a non-medical research scientist who gets breast cancer. She survives by applying her own skills in science to discover that at an institutional level medical science isn't doing science as well as it could be. She then does her own research to conclude that dairy PROTEINS ( not fat, going low fat on dairy does not help ) accelerate breast cancer. She gives up dairy and her cancer goes into remission.

 

Beyond having really SOLID info about dairy, not web maven stuff, the book has many valuable tips on traps to avoid in seeking treatment for breast cancer.

 

Ok, well now you've got me thinking....

 

Think about all the campaigns that have been going on over the past 15 years. Got Milk? HUUUUUUUGE campaign with tons of stars telling us to drink tons of milk. And if we don't drink milk, we're all gonna get osteoperosis and are bones are gonna break off, so drink up! Which we all know is completely false but it was (and is) such a strong message. Calcium, milk, yogurt, DAIRY, as if nothing else contains calcium but dairy products. That's the message many of us got growing up, through huge ad campaings, commercials. And since "osteoperosis" is so much more common in women, we've always been told we need to worry about it alot more than the men.

 

I can think of so many more examples. "Eat dairy for weight loss" because the calcium makes you absorb fat better (or something like, that). And lets not forget all the yogurt commercials with women eating their little container of yogurt like it's an orgasmic experience. I'm just realizing how much the DAIRY campaign has been pointed at women all these years too.

 

HMMMMMM....... really makes you think.

[veggieprincess]

I think it's a lot of things, GMOs included.

 

My cousin died of breast cancer a year and a half ago. She was 32. In her own reading before she died she came to believe that cow's milk, cow's meat and other meats had a role in her cancer. She was eating semi- vegan for the last year of her life (some fish, but no other meats, dairy, etc.)

 

I don't think it's just a coincidence at all that cancer's prevalence is growing. I just don't know how easy it is to pinpoint it to one specific factor.

 

Very sorry to hear about your cousin Pamela

[xveganjoshx]

Lifestyle. 98% of people are walking trashcans with the way they eat.

 

GMO's, Dehydration, bad sleeping habits, lack of exercise, stress, inadequate fiber, too much meat/dairy, not enough fruits/veg, pesticides, artifical flavorings/colorings in processed foods....the list could go on forever.

 

That, and of course predispositions to disease- genetic and hereditary stuff. Also environmental factors. Long Island, where I'm from, is one of the top places for breast cancer in the US ( I think it's even #1 from what I've heard).

 

P.S. I love my microwave oven. The radiation it generates is apparently not completely in the microwave range (I don't know if this is typical but it was pretty expensive so it's not like it's a cheap model). The shielding from the radiation must not be that great, because apparently some of the other wavelengths of radiation leaks out. I know this because whenever I run my microwave my television doesn't work (the radiation interferes with the signal on the antenna) and my radio doesn't work. I think this is mostly cool, it's not harmful because radio waves and uhf/vhf waves are not harmful anyway. I think it's pretty neat.

[pamela]

I think it's a lot of things, GMOs included.

 

My cousin died of breast cancer a year and a half ago. She was 32. In her own reading before she died she came to believe that cow's milk, cow's meat and other meats had a role in her cancer. She was eating semi- vegan for the last year of her life (some fish, but no other meats, dairy, etc.)

 

I don't think it's just a coincidence at all that cancer's prevalence is growing. I just don't know how easy it is to pinpoint it to one specific factor.

 

Very sorry to hear about your cousin Pamela

 

Thanks. It was a horrible way for her to die, in total agony.

[beforewisdom]

I'm reading this book right now:

 

http://tinyurl.com/2l2z3v

 

It is about a non-medical research scientist who gets breast cancer. She survives by applying her own skills in science to discover that at an institutional level medical science isn't doing science as well as it could be. She then does her own research to conclude that dairy PROTEINS ( not fat, going low fat on dairy does not help ) accelerate breast cancer. She gives up dairy and her cancer goes into remission.

 

Beyond having really SOLID info about dairy, not web maven stuff, the book has many valuable tips on traps to avoid in seeking treatment for breast cancer.

 

Ok, well now you've got me thinking....

 

Think about all the campaigns that have been going on over the past 15 years. Got Milk?

 

The more something is advertised the more likely it is crap.

 

Women, are more vulnerable to osteoporosis, tend to be more concerned about their health, and tend to be more concerned about their looks so that is what big orgs like the dairy people will target.

 

Dr. Plant also has a book out explaining how dairy proteins related to prostate cancer. No big surprise, both types of cancer are hormone linked.

 

FWIW, Dan Fogleberg diet of prostate cancer a few days ago.

[Guest]

Sure there's lots of things that lead to all kinds of cancer in our lives today. Many things that we created that weren't here before. But cancer has been around well before recorded history. Its part of life, always will be, always should be. It has only been diagnosed recently(in terms of world history) and tests are getting better and better which really has a lot to do with the numbers being so high. Sure they shouldn't be this high but its not like cancer rarely happened 1000years ago.

[offense74]

Sure there's lots of things that lead to all kinds of cancer in our lives today. Many things that we created that weren't here before. But cancer has been around well before recorded history. Its part of life, always will be, always should be. It has only been diagnosed recently(in terms of world history) and tests are getting better and better which really has a lot to do with the numbers being so high. Sure they shouldn't be this high but its not like cancer rarely happened 1000years ago.

Reading "The china stydy" and "Healthy at 100" will test those conclusions

[Tarz]

Sure there's lots of things that lead to all kinds of cancer in our lives today. Many things that we created that weren't here before. But cancer has been around well before recorded history. Its part of life, always will be, always should be. It has only been diagnosed recently(in terms of world history) and tests are getting better and better which really has a lot to do with the numbers being so high. Sure they shouldn't be this high but its not like cancer rarely happened 1000years ago.

I was going to write what Potter wrote, only he beat me to it.

 

Cancer has always been killing people, but it's only recently that it has started being diagnosed as a specific condition.

 

So yeah, I agree that cancer is probably becoming more common as a result of modern lifestyle choices, but we don't know fatality rates from cancers before it was recognised as a condition/ailment, so we can't be sure just how more common it is becoming, as we don't know how common it was previously.

[Guest]

Actually I think you'd find lots of people living to be 100 have cancer too...just growing at a slower rate. I think its inevitable if you live long enough to suffer from it. If we all lived to be 200 we'd pretty much all get some type of cancer...its part of the life cycle. I think a lot of old remains we've found have less cancer largely because they were from people who died of various ailments before the age of 35.