Health News / October 2007
Breast Alert For Women
By Dr. Jane Kurucz
October is breast cancer awareness month. It is time to turn our attention to breast self exam, mammograms and lifestyle changes in an effort to maintain breast health.
Breast self exam remains the cornerstone of breast health. All women are capable of performing breast self exams. The most important question to ask yourself as you do an exam is “Do I feel the same as I did last month?” As you do breast self exam you become accustomed to your “normal” texture and any changes in your breast tissue will be easily noticed.
Mammograms help to find cancers early. They can show cancers that are too small to feel and micro-calcifications that can be a sign of cancer. Digital mammograms are best for dense breast tissue but conventional film mammograms are best for non-dense breast tissue.
Lifestyle choice such as weight in the 40’s, smoking, and synthetic estrogen use are all associated with an increased risk of beast cancer. The use of bio-identical progesterone cream may balance the growth effect of estrogen thus helping reduce the risk. Another useful measure is the ratio of estrogen metabolites in the urine. This test to assess breast cancer risk is very individualized. Ratios below 2 show a hormonal climate in the body that is at risk for breast cancer. Eating cruciferous vegetables every other day, turmeric supplements, soy, ground flax seed, and bio-identical progesterone all help to increase the ratio to above 2.
While it continues to be important to diagnose breast cancer early and treat it aggressively, it is even more critical to take steps to prevent it. We are continually adding new tests, treatments and information in the fight against breast cancer.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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