Did you know each day approximately 36 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer?

Breast cancer is the most feared disease for the majority of women.

Most women feel powerless over their ability to prevent it.

• Many women believe breast cancer is a result of bad genes and bad luck.
• The truth is: only five to ten percent of breast cancer cases are genetic.

In The Breast Cancer Prevention Guide, Dr Sandra Cabot and naturopath Margaret Jasinska explain:

• The real risk factors for breast cancer
• What you can do to greatly reduce your risk

Like we were, you will probably be surprised to know that:

• Oral contraceptives increase the risk of breast cancer by 44 percent when taken before a woman’s first pregnancy. In 2005 the World Health Organisation defined them as a “class one carcinogen”, meaning a known cancer causing agent.
• Iodine deficiency increases the risk of fibrocystic breast disease, which is a precursor to breast cancer.
• Women who are overweight or insulin resistant are 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.
• Women who are Vitamin D deficient at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer are 94 percent more likely to have their cancer metastasise (spread) and 73 percent more likely to die in the next ten years than women who are not deficient.
• This book describes all of the breast cancer screening methods available to women.
• Your body makes good and bad oestrogen. It is possible to measure your levels of bad oestrogen. The easy to follow strategies in this book will enable your body to produce less of this harmful oestrogen.
• According to the Silent Spring Institute in the USA, a total of 216 different chemicals and radiation sources have been internationally recognised as being directly involved in breast cancer causation.

This book contains a comprehensive plan to help you prevent breast cancer, based on the latest scientific research.

Breast Cancer Prevention Guide

Background information

Breast Health – It’s vitally important for all Women in Today’s World

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer afflicting Australian women
• One in eight Australian women develops the disease during their lifetime
• The incidence of breast cancer has doubled in the last 20 years

No wonder breast cancer is the most feared disease for the majority of women.

There are several well established risk factors for breast cancer, such as being overweight, excess alcohol use and use of the oral contraceptive pill. However many women who have several risk factors for breast cancer never develop the disease, and a large percentage of women with breast cancer had no known risk factors. We do know that a specific mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes gives a woman a 40 to 80 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer, however only approximately five to ten precent of breast cancer cases occur as a result of this mutation.

New research has shown that nutritional and environmental factors appear to be the biggest culprit in the alarming increase in breast cancer rates.

Breast cells are highly sensitive to the effects of radiation and environmental chemicals. This is particularly the case in utero, during childhood, puberty and all the way until the first full term pregnancy. Exposure to environmental chemicals such as pesticides, dioxin, air pollutants and chemicals in some plastic has been strongly linked with the future development of breast cancer.

Many women think there is not much they can do to reduce their risk of breast cancer. However, Dr Sandra Cabot says this is not correct and explains some of the proven ways to keep our breast tissue healthy. For example:

• Ensure you receive adequate quantities of vitamin D regularly. Vitamin D is manufactured in our body when our skin is exposed to sunlight. According to the Vitamin D Council, a not for profit educational corporation located in California, USA, vitamin D deficiency is a contributing factor in the development of 17 different types of cancer, including breast cancer. Vitamin D helps cells to differentiate (become specialised), and inhibits cells from proliferating, or growing in an out of control way. Surprisingly vitamin D deficiency is extremely common in Australia.
• Ensure your daily intake of Iodine is adequate. Iodine deficiency promotes fibrocystic breast disease, and many Australian women are iodine deficient.
• Ensure your daily intake of Selenium is adequate. Women with the mutated breast cancer genes are far less able to repair DNA damage. It is known that Selenium protects DNA against damage and it reduces the risk of all types of cancer in this way. Women who have a mutation of the BRCA1 gene were found to have more chromosome breaks (which can lead to breast cancer) than women without this mutation. When women with the BRCA1 mutation were given Selenium for three months, the number of their chromosome breaks was reduced to normal. Selenium is very deficient in the soils of most parts of Australia and New Zealand, therefore receiving enough in your diet is difficult.
• It is vitally important to have regular breast checks from your doctor and perform breast self examinations every month. This is best done three days after menstrual bleeding has stopped.
• Include plenty of antioxidant rich foods in your diet, such as raw vegetables and their juices, raw fruits and white or green tea.
• Include plenty of phyto-estrogen rich foods in your diet, such as beans, chickpeas, lentils, flaxseed and nuts.