Pancreatic Cancer After Chronic Pancreatitis

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court bench three weeks after surgery for pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, who is 75, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the beginning of this February and surgeons removed a small tumor that had not spread. Experts say she has a good chance of recovery.

Most Americans wish Justice Ruth Ginsburg good health, but what came to peoples mind, especially people with chronic pancreatitis, when they read this news? "Thanks God, it is not me", "What can I do to avoid that?"

People who have chronic pancreatitis are at a higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. On the contrary, improving the health of pancreas may help to prevent of developing pancreatic cancer.

The chain reaction: healthy pancreas, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, can be really slow down by changing life style and using alternative medicine.

The pancreas is a gland located behind the stomach. It is surrounded by the liver, stomach, gallbladder, and duodenum (small intestine). The pancreas has two most important functions. One is to produce pancreatic juice needed to neutralize stomach acids and break down food. The second is to produce hormones, such as insulin, which controls the level of glucose in the blood.

Pancreatic cancer occurs when abnormal, cancerous cells grow in the tissues of the pancreas mainly in the ducts that carry pancreatic juices. About 80% of pancreatic cancers occur in the "head" of the pancreas. This is the area where the common bile duct merges the pancreatic duct that carries the pancreatic juice with digestive enzymes from pancreas to the duodenum. Blend secretion of bile and pancreatic juice goes trough the opening with a muscles valve.

Spasm or blockage of this valve may cause back up of the pancreatic juice and increasing of pressure inside the pancreatic duct. Trapped inside the pancreas digestive enzymes start to digest their own pancreatic cells causing congestion, inflammation, pain, cysts and finally death of pancreatic tissue or pancreatic cancer.

The whole idea to help people with chronic pancreatitis is "open the gates", get rid of the blockages in proper moving of the bile and pancreatic juice, remove back up of the pancreatic juice. What may help this way to lower risk of pancreatic cancer?

* Acupuncture can open passages and valves, normalize the function of liver, gallbladder and pancreas. Acupuncture improves microcirculation and immunity, decreases pain and congestion.

* Proper organic healing diet decreases inner toxicity and irritation of the pancreas.

* Herbs have a long history of using in people with pancreatic problems.

* Nutritional supplements can decrease oxidative stress, inflammation, pain.

* Drinking healing mineral water preparing from the Karlovy Vary Thermal Spring Salt can decrease acidity, decrease congestion and pancreatic juice's back up.

* Regular exercises, chiropractic manipulations and point massage.

* Avoid smoking, stop drinking alcohol by using Hypnosis, Acupuncture, etc.

* Body Cleansing.

* Restoration of friendly intestinal flora by using Colon Hydrotherapy and Probiotics.

Pancreatic cancer is easy to prevent than treat, especially in predisposal people. Of course, early detection of cancer is as important as ever.

Peter Melamed Lic.Ac,RN, Ph.D

Lignans: A Component of Optimal Breast Health and Cancer Prevention

(NaturalNews) Among the many stressors in the lives of women today is the question of breast health. We want to be proactive in the care of our bodies. Yet we feel torn between the traditional medical approach which offers us Tamoxifen, and the natural or holistic approach. Recent research points to lignans as a significant natural supporter of breast wellness. Let's examine these alternatives.

Tamoxifen is a drug that has long been used to treat patients suffering from breast cancer. In 1998, the FDA approved Tamoxifen for use in breast cancer prevention. Tamoxifen acts as an "anti-estrogen" in the body. Just as estrogen is currently believed to promote the growth of breast cancer cells, Tamoxifen is believed to slow or stop the growth of any breast cancer cells already present in the body.

Known side effects of Tamoxifen include endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus), pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs), and deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in major veins).

Is there something better?

As is almost always the case, we are finding that mother nature can do it better. Researchers are now identifying the benefits of lignans.

Human lignans are created when natural plant compounds locked into the cellular matrix of certain seeds, beans, legumes, fruits, and vegetables are acted upon by bacteria in the digestive tract. These compounds resemble the shape and structure of estrogen and have some of estrogen's functionality. Studies have shown that women with the highest levels of lignans in their breasts have the greatest levels of breast health.

Due to their structural resemblance to estrogen, lignans are able to compete with estrogen for estrogen receptor sites on breast cells. It is believed that through these estrogen receptor sites, estrogen may cause cancerous mutations in DNA. When lignans block the receptor sites they displace estrogen, and reduce the possibilities for mutations. Flaxseeds are the richest dietary source of lignan precursors.

In order for lignans to effectively compete with estrogen for the estrogen receptor sites, there must be a large number of lignans in the body. This can be accomplished by consistently eating a diet high in lignan precursors including flax seeds, supplementing with high lignan flax oil, or taking one of a number of high lignan products formulated as capsules, the best known of which is Brevail made by the Barleans Company (I have absolutely no affiliation with the Barleans company but would like to praise them for including vitamin D in their product before current research revealed its importance in cancer prevention).

Lignans pass through the body in a 24 to 48 hour period, so care must be taken to ingest lignan precursors almost daily. Supplementing with flax oil or a lignan capsule formulation insures that you will get a quantifiable amount every day.

Since lignans are created by the action of intestinal bacteria upon the lignan precursors found in these certain vegetables and fruits, supplementing for lignan production following the use of antibiotics is particularly important. The use of antibiotics results in a reduced count of these intestinal bacteria.

Hormonal Harmony

According to research reports, women ingesting significant levels of lignan precursors to promote optimal breast health have reported other added benefits such as improved mood, and reduced levels of hot flashes, irritability, cramping, bloating, breast tenderness, headache and insomnia.

In a study sponsored by one of the makers of lignan capsules, the thirty women studied were able to raise their blood and urine levels of lignans to a point comparable to women with an extraordinary history of breast health and hormonal health.

by: Barbara Minton, Natural Health Editor

What is Cervical Cancer and Symptoms of Cervical Cancer

Definition of cervical cancer: Cancer that forms in tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and vagina). It is usually a slow-growing cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular Pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope).

The cervix is the lower part of the uterus (womb). It is sometimes called the uterine cervix. The body (upper part) of the uterus, is where a fetus grows. The cervix connects the body of the uterus to the vagina (birth canal). The part of the cervix closest to the body of the uterus is called the endocervix. The part next to the vagina is the exocervix (or ectocervix).

What causes cervical cancer?

Most cervical cancer is caused by a virus called human papillomavirus, or HPV. You get HPV by having sex with someone who has it. There are many types of the HPV virus. Not all types of HPV cause cervical cancer. Some of them cause genital warts, but other types may not cause any symptoms.

Most researches believe that the human papilloma virus (HPV) is a strong cofactor in the development of pre-invasive and invasive carcinomas of the cervix, as well as pre-invasive and invasive squamous cell cancer of the vagina and vulva. Ninety to nintey-five percent of squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix contain the human papilloma virus DNA.

Symptoms of cervical cancer

Bleeding that occurs between regular menstrual periods

Bleeding after sexual intercourse, douching, or a pelvic exam

The most common symptom is abnormal vaginal bleeding. This is any bleeding from the vagina other than during menstruation.

Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer

Biopsy procedures

While the pap smear is an effective screening test, confirmation of the diagnosis of cervical cancer or pre-cancer requires a biopsy of the cervix. This is often done through colposcopy, a magnified visual inspection of the cervix aided by using an acetic acid (e.g. vinegar) solution to highlight abnormal cells on the surface of the cervix.

Treatments and drugs of Cervical Cancer

Cone biopsy (conization). During this surgery, the doctor uses a scalpel to remove a cone-shaped piece of cervical tissue where the abnormality is found.

Surgical treatment for invasive cervical cancer is radical hysterectomy, which is the removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, adjacent lymph nodes, and part of the vagina. If cancer has spread (metastasized) to lymph nodes in the abdomen, lymphadenectomy (surgical removal of lymph nodes) may also be performed.

Cryosurgery Hysterectomy -- The removal of the uterus through the abdomen or vagina is a major surgical procedure requiring at least an overnight stay in the hospital. There are very few reasons to perform a hysterectomy for pre-invasive lesions. It is sometimes used for women who have had more than one relapse and no longer have enough tissue to perform another LEEP.

If the cancer has spread further within the pelvis or to other organs, radiation therapy is preferred. This treatment is ineffective in about 40% of women with large or extensive cancers.

Cancer Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Cancer

Cancer is a group of more than 100 different diseases. Cancer occurs when cells become abnormal and keep dividing and forming more cells without control or order, forming a growth or tumor. Benign tumors are NOT cancer; malignant tumors are cancer. Cancer stem cell content and the intrinsic radio sensitivity of cancer stem cells is thought to vary between tumors, thereby affecting their radio curability. Most cancers are named for where they start. For example, lung cancer starts in the lung, and breast cancer starts in the breast. The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis.

It can also occur when cells “forget” how to die. There are many different kinds of cancers. Cancer can develop in almost any organ or tissue, such as the lung, colon, breast, skin, bones, or nerve tissue. The mutation in the DNA changes these instructions, so that the cells carry on growing. This causes the cells to reproduce in an uncontrollable manner producing a lump of tissue, known as a tumors.

Types Of Cancer Breast cancer,prostate cancer,lung cancercancer of colon, or rectum,bladder cancer, and ovarian cancer. Symptoms Of Cancer Symptoms of cancer depend on the type and location of the tumor. For example, lung cancer can cause coughing, shortness of breath, or chest pain, while colon cancer often causes diarrhea, constipation, and blood in the stool. Local symptoms - these occur when the cancer is contained in one part of your body. changes in bowel or bladder habits, a sore that does not heal, unusual bleeding or discharge, thickening or lump in the breast or any other part of the body, indigestion or difficulty swallowing, obvious change in a wart or mole, or nagging cough or hoarseness.

If the tumor has spread to local lymph nodes only, sometimes these can also be removed. Information about cancer treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, clinical trials, proton therapy, complementary medicine, cutting edge technologies, Surgical Oncology, Targeted Therapies and Vaccine Therapies. Complementary medicine techniques such as acupuncture

, meditation, and yoga could be a helpful addition to your regular medical treatment. Includes research on complementary techniques and ways to find qualified practitioners. If all of the cancer cannot be removed with surgery, the options for treatment include radiation, chemotherapy, or both. Some cancers require a combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

james sameul

Breast Cancer - Naturopathic Approaches

During chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the organs of detoxification are being extremely overloaded and overworked. They can become so fatigued from the toxic load that many of the functions shut down and they are unable to do what they need to do. The kidneys and the liver are particularly affected. The patient can also experience discomfort in many forms, as well as experiencing great fear and isolation. The body can be assisted greatly in this process with just a few simple adjustments to the person's diet and lifestyle, and with the assistance of homeopathic, herbal and nutrition remedies. But first let me explain the philosophy and principles of naturopathy.

The Principles of Naturopathy

Naturopathy is a philosophy of health care, whose ideas about disease and healing are built upon many years of investigation and research into the nature and cause of disease. This philosophy is based on three fundamental principles. These principles are logical deductions and conclusions arrived at from centuries of effective therapeutic treatment of disease, from the Orient, Europe and the United States. Naturopathy recommends only the simplest, most natural and non-invasive measures to bring about its results. These treatments have been tested and proved over and over again by the results obtained.

In this article we are dealing with the first principle only. The first and most fundamental principle of naturopathy is that all forms of disease are due to the same fundamental cause. This is (from the physical perspective), the accumulation in the system of waste materials and toxic refuse, which has been steadily building up in the body of the individual concerned through years of incorrect living habits. From this principle, then, it follows that the only way in which disease is eliminated at the physical level is by introduction of various methods that will enable the system to throw off these toxic accumulations – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – which are clogging the wheels of the human machine.

• The first principle: All disease has the same fundamental cause.

• The second principle: The body is always striving for the ultimate good of the individual.

• The third principle: The body/mind heals itself.

In naturopathy and complementary health care, one of the first steps is to identify various toxins that the person is unable to throw off correctly. These toxins could be in the form of chemicals; heavy metals; radiation; water; geopathic stress; electro-magnetic fields; processed and refined foods; bacteria; viruses; fungi; parasites; weather; air; noise; injury; emotional trauma; excess of body chemicals; and cumulative life experiences.

All synthetic chemicals in the form of medication are extremely toxic to the individual. This of course puts the patient in a quandary: the treatments needed to kill the cancer are in themselves creating a further toxic problem. A positive solution is to start the detoxification process as soon as possible to assist the patient in their recovery. It is advised that this be done very gently and slowly.

First let us clarify what is meant by toxins and detoxification.

Definition of Detoxification

Detoxification is a cornerstone of both healing and the prevention of disease. Detoxification covers the sum total of therapeutic means available to ensure the elimination of toxins that debase or deplete the organism of the patient requiring treatment, through natural channels and with natural substances.

Definition of Drainage

The general term 'drainage', that is to say, draining or flowing away from, is vital in the process of detoxification. Drainage is a major component of detoxification, but not necessarily detoxification itself. In other words, one might be detoxifying the cells and the tissues but, if the organs to be detoxified are not draining properly, there can be much discomfort for the client.

Definition of Toxins and Toxaemia

We can classify the various sources of the toxins that afflict us into three different categories that are distinct from one another, but can be found concurrently in the same client.

Exogenous Toxins

This means that the toxins are extended to the subject. In other words, the toxins are entering the system from the outside, such as food additives, x-ray, ELF waves, chemicals, industrial pollutants, pesticides, herbicides, viruses, fungi, bacteria, parasites, etc. The toxins could also come from excess stimulants, such as tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, medicines, injury, accidents, over-exercise, etc.

Endogenous Toxins

These toxins are found within the subject themselves: microbial viruses and toxins associated with tuberculosis, syphilis or other diseases due to microbes; the inability to throw off dead cells correctly in the catabolic phase; excess hormone secretions due to stress that are not correctly processed; and emotional activity that renders the person out of control with the inability to quiet the system.

Autogenous Toxins

These toxins are generated by the subject as a result of miasm (a genetic tendency towards), as well as their constitution and temperament. They affect the organism primarily by inhibiting a good immune response and lowering its resistance. According to Samuel Hahnemann 'arthritis' comes under the miasmic term of 'Psora'.

How Does the Body Detoxify Itself?

There are two phases of detoxification.

Phase 1

This phase aims to do two things: firstly it wants to make the toxins less poisonous; and secondly it wants to excrete them. This is important, for if you allow a poison to go directly to the kidneys for excretion without first changing it to a less toxic form, it will damage the kidney as it passes through. The body has three types of reactions to choose from: oxidation (burning off); reduction; and hydrolysis (conversion or changing). Usually this is all the body needs to do to change the compound or metabolite, so that it can be safely excreted through the kidneys.

Phase 2

This phase of the detoxification process is nature's back-up system. In this phase an amino acid hooks onto the metabolite or compound to make it larger, more electrically charged and more polar. This makes it more soluble in water, enabling it to be excreted through the bile to pass into the stool. This reduces the workload on the kidneys and provides a way to get rid of more difficult compounds. This phase is called conjugation, which means the coupling with another compound to make it easier to be drained or washed out. Glutathione is a major conjugator that helps the body detoxify foreign chemicals or xenobiotics.

Toxins enter the body by four major pathways:

• They are in the air and we breathe them, so the lungs are a major pathway;

• They are in the water and we drink them which makes the kidneys major pathways;

• They are in our foods and we eat them and those toxins get processed through the liver and exit through the bowel, which makes the liver and bowel major pathways;

• They are absorbed through the skin.

We also eliminate toxins through the same pathways. These are known as the organs of detoxification.

How Can Detoxification Help the Breast Cancer Patient who is Undergoing Allopathic Care?

When patients have made the decision to cleanse the system gently while undergoing therapy, they discover that they are not as fatigued as they were, their thinking is much less foggy, they experience far fewer side effects and, best of all, they feel they have some control over their own well-being.

When the toxins have been identified, the appropriate detoxification programme is designed. We first need to deal with the specific toxins due to the cancer therapy itself; then we can deal with the specific toxins due to the patient's lifestyle. There is a group of homeopathic remedies called zenobiotics, which assist the body to detoxify at the cellular level. These are designed to detoxify the specific toxin you are working with, such as, radiation, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals, food additives, etc. We would then look at herbal detoxifiers, such as, cat's claw, chlorella, chlorophyll, black walnut, Spanish black radish and Mitake mushroom. Nutritional supplements, such as glutathione and MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), inositol hexaphosphate, anti-oxidants and bio-flavonoids may also be appropriate. Post-surgery, homeopathic remedies, such as arnica and bellis, are extremely helpful for bruising and shock.

Within natural therapies there are many remedies for each specific organ and function, so, which do we choose? That is where the professional can help by being able to assess the energy field of the client's body and then recommend specific treatments for each individual. That is best done through energy testing such as kinesiology, or a form of testing called EAV testing. The client may need only some of the above-mentioned remedies at a time, perhaps one from each category. It is important that the individual is tested by a competent practitioner to see which products match their system for maximum results.

As I mentioned earlier, we need to make sure the organs of detoxification are draining and supported. There are specific programmes to do this, for example:

• black walnut, wormwood and cloves to detoxify the liver;

• hydrangea root, marsh mallow root, goldenrod and parsley to detoxify the kidney;

• baking soda and salt baths, ginger baths and vinegar baths to detoxify the skin, as well as doing skin brushing before the bath;

• slippery elm, cascara segrada and senna, along with fibre and betonite to assist in detoxifying the colon;

• mullein, fenugreek, yerba santa and deep breathing exercises for the lungs;

• trampoline bouncing and using the Chi machine to assist the lymph system in carrying away the waste.

What Sort of Foods Should the Cancer Patient Eat along with their Detoxification Programme?

Again there are wonderful foods that support the normal function of the organs of detoxification, such as watermelon and asparagus for the kidneys; for the liver, endive, collard greens, dock and dandelion greens (the bitter taste activates the flow of bile), lemon water (the sour taste cools and cleanses the liver); flax seed oil and olive oil are of great benefit to the large intestines; and good old chicken soup can benefit the lungs. When it comes to diet people also need to take into consideration their blood type, whether they are a slow or fast oxidizer and whether they are sympathetic or parasympathetic dominant. Cleansing and detoxification have been major aspects of healing throughout history. It is only in this age, ironically, when we have more toxins in our environment than ever before, that mainstream thinking does not seem to see the need for this wonderful healing modality at all.

Emotional, mental and spiritual work has to be utmost in the client's programme, as it may be necessary to change the way the client thinks and acts in order to optimize the healing process.

by Angela Burr-Madsen ND

Breast Cancer - Detection or Deception?

Introduction

When it comes to finding solutions to the many problems facing our lives, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message, “Change only takes place through action”, might very well have been the rallying call that galvanized the millions of women throughout the world to support the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Every October since 1985, the recognizable symbol of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the pink ribbon bow, is prominently displayed all over TV, on posters, in magazine advertisements as well as proudly adorning women’s lapels. The multitudes’ fundraising runs, hikes, walks and various other events raise hundred of millions of dollars to conquer that dreaded scourge of the modern woman, breast cancer. High profile companies like Avon, Lee Denim and Revlon have joined ranks along with the Susan G Komen Foundation’s ‘Race for the Cure’ and the LA City of Hope Hospital’s ‘Walk for Hope’. Popular celebrities have been enlisted to lead the charge.

Each year 180,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 44,000 will die of the disease. The US has one of the highest breast cancer rates of any country in the world. Fifty years ago the incidence for a woman’s lifetime risk was one in twenty. Now it has skyrocketed to one in eight. Clearly the so-called war on cancer has not even made a dent in the breast cancer epidemic as the figures continue to climb at the rate of 1% a year.

The motto of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is “Early Detection is Your Best Protection”, since the National Cancer Institute stated in 1995 that “Breast cancer is simply not a preventable disease”. A similar message was reiterated in 1997 by the American Cancer Society’s announcement that “there are no practical ways to prevent breast cancer – only early detection”. Therefore, mammograms then become the front line of defence. Celebrities like Rosie O’Donnell offer free T-shirts with the honourable words “I’ve been Squished” if you’ll just make a date with your local X-ray department.

Conflicts of Interest

Breast cancer Awareness Month’s primary sponsor and mastermind of the event in 1985 was Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, now known as AstraZeneca. Zeneca is the company that manufactures the controversial and widely prescribed breast cancer drug, tamoxifen. All TV, radio and print media are paid for and must be approved by Zeneca.

It is less known that Zeneca also makes herbicides and fungicides. One of their products, the organochlorine pesticide, acetochlor is implicated as a causal factor in breast cancer. Its Perry, Ohio chemical plant is a major source of potential cancer-causing pollution in the US, spewing 53,000 pounds of recognized carcinogens into the air in 1996.

When it comes to the environmental carcinogens found in pesticides, herbicides, plastics and other toxic chemicals, there is booming silence by all Breast Cancer Awareness Month programmes. Did the alarming increase of breast cancer rates just mysteriously happen? Or perhaps, the focus on the cure has conveniently ignored the cause? After all, if it became general knowledge that Zeneca’s chemical products and factories directly contribute to the breast cancer epidemic, it would certainly sully their PR campaign.

Many experts predicted as far back as 30 years ago that cancer rates would increase, citing an explosion of synthetic chemicals. From 1940 through the early 1980s, production of synthetic chemicals increased by a factor of 350. Billions of tons of substances that never existed before were released into the environment. Yet only 3% of the 75,000 chemicals in use have been tested for safety. These toxic time bombs are everywhere – in our water, air and food. They are also found in the workplace, in schools, in household cleaners, cosmetics and personal care products, Women who live near toxic waste dumps have 6.5 times the incidence of breast cancer.

A survey conducted by Dr Mary Wolff of Mt Sinai Hospital, New York, found that women with breast cancer had four times the levels of DDE (a breakdown product of the pesticide DDT) found in non-carcinogenic tumours.Also, another study investigated why upper-class women in the community of Newton, Massachusetts, had higher breast cancer rates than the lower economic women. The researchers attributed the increase to greater use of professional lawn-care service and more dry cleaning services, which use known carcinogenic chemicals.

The pesticide-breast cancer link was stunningly highlighted in research from Israel which linked three organochlorine pesticides detected in dairy products to an increase of 12 types of cancer in 10 different strains of mice. After public outcry in 1978 forced the Israeli government to ban the pesticides – benzene hexachloride, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and lindane – breast cancer mortality rates, which had increased every year for 25 years, dropped nearly 8% for all age groups and more than a third for women aged 25-34 in 1986.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) was founded with the support of the Rockefeller family in 1913. Members of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry have long had a place on its board. “The ACS also has close connections to the mammography industry. Five radiologists have served as ACS presidents, and in its every move the ACS reflects the interests of major manufacturers of mammography machines and film including Siemens, DuPont, General Electric, Eastman Kodak, and Piker.”Could that have something to do with the fact that the ACS’s latest report on cancer prevention makes no mention of environmental factors or safer screening protocols?

Samuel Epstein MD, Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, scathingly attacks the cancer establishment. “Over recent decades, the incidence of cancer has escalated to epidemic proportions while our ability to treat and cure most cancers remains virtually unchanged. Apart from the important role of tobacco, there is substantial and long-standing evidence relating this epidemic to involuntary and avoidable exposure to industrial carcinogens in air, water, the workplace and consumer products. Nevertheless, the priorities of the cancer establishment, the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, remain narrowly fixated on damage control – diagnosis and treatment – and on basic molecular research, with relative indifference to, if not always benign neglect of, prevention. Concerns over this imbalance are further compounded by serious questions of conflicts of interest, particularly with the multi-billion-dollar cancer drug industry.”

Toxic Tamoxifen

Perhaps we can forgive Zeneca’s involvement with carcinogenic chemicals, since it researched and patented the most popular breast cancer treatment, tamoxifen, manufactured under the name of Nolvadex. This highly profitable drug grosses 500 million dollars annually. Perhaps not.

On 16 May 2000, the New York Times reported that the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences had added 14 substances to their list of known carcinogens. Tamoxifen was included in that list!

However, the government’s announcement confirmed what had already been known. In May 1995, California’s expert committee, established from Proposition 65, decided to let the public know that tamoxifen use is likely to cause endometrial cancer. Zeneca Pharmaceuticals did not challenge these findings.

It is known that tamoxifen causes uterine cancer, liver cancer and stomach and colorectal cancer. After just two to three years of use, tamoxifen will increase the incidence of uterine cancer by two to three times. The treatment for uterine cancer is a hysterectomy. In addition, tamoxifen increases the risk of strokes, blood clots, eye damage, menopausal symptoms and depression.

The biggest shock of all is the fact that tamoxifen will increase the risk of breast cancer! The journal Science published a study from Duke University Medical Center in 1999 showing that after 2 to 5 years of use, tamoxifen actually initiated the growth of breast cancer!

So, Zeneca, the originator of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is the manufacturer of carcinogenic petrochemicals, carcinogenic pollutants and a breast cancer drug that causes at least four different types of cancer in women, including breast cancer. Is something wrong with this picture?

Mammography Dangers

Since the Breast Cancer Awareness Month spin doctors claim that breast cancer is “simply not a preventable disease”, the focus has shifted to the theme of early detection. Women are now encouraged to get their mammogram earlier. At one time, only women 50 years or older were told to get this screening. Now the campaign is targeting 40-year-olds and even women as young as 25. However, detecting breast cancer with mammography is not the same as a protection from breast cancer.

For 20 years or more, John Gofman, a scientist with degrees in both chemistry and medicine, has been publishing studies of the hazards of low-level radiation. His hypothesis is that “Medical radiation is a highly important cause (probably the principal cause) of cancer mortality in the United States during the twentieth century.” In other words, Gofman believes that medical X-rays are a major cause of cancer, including breast cancer and heart disease, in the US.

“There is clear evidence that the breast, particularly in premenopausal women, is highly sensitive to radiation, with estimates of increased risk of up to one percent for every RAD (radiation absorbed dose) unit of X-ray exposure. Even for low dosage exposure of two RADs or less, this exposure can add up quickly for women having an annual mammography,” notes Samuel Epstein. “More recent concern comes from evidence that one percent of women, or over one million women in the United States alone, carry a gene that increases their breast cancer risk from radiation fourfold.”

According to Sharon Batt, author of Patient No More: The Politics of Breast Cancer, “The depths of the mammography deceit began in the early 1970s. It was concocted by insiders at the American Cancer Society (ACS) and their friends at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The number of women who were put ‘at risk’ or who died as a result of this nefarious scheme is not known but estimated to be huge.”

In 1978, Irwin J D Bross, Director of Biostatistics at Roswell Park Memorial Institute for Cancer Research, commented about the cancer screening programme:

“The women should have been given the information about the hazards of radiation at the same time they were given the sales talk for mammography. Doctors were gung-ho to use it on a large scale. They went right ahead and X-rayed not just a few women but a quarter of a million women. A jump in exposure of a quarter of a million persons to something which could do more harm than good was criminal and it was supported by money from the federal government and the American Cancer Society.”

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) was warned in 1974 by professor Malcolm C Pike at the University of Southern California School of Medicine that a number of specialists had concluded that “giving a women under age 50 a mammogram on a routine basis is close to unethical”.

“Repeat… The experts in the government were told not to do this to healthy women in the year 1974!”

The Lancet reported that, since mammographic screening was introduced in 1983, the incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which represents 12% of all breast cancer cases, has increased by 328%, and 200% of this increase is due to the use of mammography. This increase is for all women: since the inception of widespread mammographic screening, the increase for women under the age of 40 has gone up over 3000%.

In addition, mammography provides false tumour reports between 5% and 15% of the time. False positive results cause women to be re-exposed to additional X-rays and create an environment of further stress, even possibly leading to unneeded surgery.

In September, a large-sample, long-term Canadian study proved that an annual mammogram was no more effective in preventing deaths from breast cancer than periodic physical examinations for women in their 50s.

In the study of almost 40,000 women aged 50 to 59, half received periodic breast examinations alone and half received breast examinations plus mammograms. All learned to examine their own breasts as well. By 1993, 13 years after the study began, there were 610 cases of invasive breast cancer and 105 deaths in the women who received only breast examinations, compared with 622 invasive breast cancers and 107 deaths in those who received breast examinations and mammograms.

“They found smaller cancers, but ultimately the mortality rate was the same” said Suzanne Fletcher, a professor of preventive medicine at Harvard Medical School. She added that cancer screening programmes are built on the assumption that “finding it earlier is finding it better… This study questions that assumption.”

“The bottom line,” said Cornelia Bainesc, co-author of the study, and a professor of public health sciences at the University of Toronto, is that “the

addition of annual mammography screening to physical examination has no impact on breast cancer survival”.

To add to the mammography controversy, a study published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association stated that mammography screening for breast cancer offers only minimal gains in life expectancy for women beyond the age of 69, a factor that should be taken into consideration when elderly women are deciding about breast cancer screening. Mammography offers the greatest potential benefit for women between 50 and 69 years old. Beyond that, the benefits are pretty small.

Another problem with mammograms is that interpretation is often wrong. In 1996, the journal Archives of Internal Medicine published results of a test of 108 radiologists throughout the United States. The test used a set of 79 mammograms where the diagnosis had been verified by subsequent biopsies, surgeries or other follow-up. The radiologists missed cancer in 21% of the films, thought 10% of the women with no breast disease had cancer and thought 42% of benign lesions were cancerous.

Another study looked at the records of 8,779 postmenopausal women who had mammograms and found that women on oestrogen had 33% more false positives (mammograms showed an abnormality but none could be found) and 423% more false negatives (mammograms that missed an abnormality that showed up later) than women not using oestrogen.

Further, mammograms are not diagnostic and too frequently lead to unnecessary breast biopsies, which are an expensive, invasive surgical procedure that causes extreme anxiety, some pain and often physical harm to many women who do not have cancer. According to the 1998 edition of the Merck Manual, for every case of breast cancer diagnosed each year, between 5 and 10 women will needlessly undergo a painful breast biopsy.

“While there is a general consensus that mammography improves early cancer detection and survival in post-menopausal women, no such benefit is demonstrable for younger women”, says Dr Epstein. Dr Charles B Simone, a former clinical associate in immunology and pharmacology at the National Cancer Institute concurs. “Mammograms increase the risk for developing breast cancer and raise the risk of spreading or metastasizing an existing growth.”

In the face of all this evidence, why does the ACS recommend annual or biannual mammography for all women aged 40 to 45 or even earlier? Do the maths: a $100 mammogram for all 62 million US women over 40, and a $1,000+ biopsy for 1 to 2 million women, is an $8 billion per year industry. However, thereis a superior alternative called advanced thermography, which does not use mechanical pressure or ionizing radiation. It can also detect signs of breast cancer years earlier than either mammography or a physical examination. Mammography cannot detect a tumour until after it has been growing for years and reaches a certain size. Digital infrared thermography is able to detect the possibility of breast cancer much earlier, because it can image the early stages of angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is the formation of a direct supply of blood to cancer cells, which is a necessary step before they can grow into larger tumours.

It is no surprise then that the safer and even more effective diagnostic techniques like digital infrared thermography have been vigorously attacked by the Breast Cancer Awareness organizations.

So all the hullabaloo that comes each October, enlisting women’s support and hard-earned cash does nothing really to eliminate the cause of this devastating disease. Instead, women’s heart-felt desires and good intentions to find the cause and cure are usurped by the hidden agendas of major transnational corporations pushing their toxic drug treatments and diagnostic tools that actually create even more breast cancer. Is it really profitable to find safe, non-toxic cures and screening methods?

Natural Steps to Cancer Prevention

Women can make the difference in eliminating breast cancer. The breast cancer epidemic is not some great mystery. The causes of cancer are already known. Toxic diets, toxic lifestyles, toxic emotions, toxic environments, toxic drug treatments and toxic diagnostic techniques cause cancer. Corporations are only interested in increasing their profits and ensuring their tentacles of control, not in actual solutions. When it comes to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, women must invest their time and money into other projects, initiatives and treatments that will truly create change.

Some of the most immediate steps women can take towards creating a preventative programme include:

• Eat as many organic foods as possible. They are not only free of harmful chemicals but also have much greater nutritional value;

• Eliminate all commercial household cleaning products and toxic garden pesticides and replace with safe, organic and biodegradable brands;

• Drink pure, filtered water;

• Refuse steroid hormone treatments such as HRT and the Pill; these are known to initiate and promote breast cancer;

• Seek out the many natural approaches to regain hormonal balance;

• Detoxify the body and reduce stress;

• Investigate safe screening techniques such as thermography, especially if you are premenopausal.

by Sherrill Sellman

Benign Tumours: My Journey

I had a suspicion that gradual physical changes had caused this lack of identity, of self, I was experiencing. It was a balmy summer morning and as is my custom I walked around the garden sniffing herbal aromas desperately trying to feel grateful and calm before going to work, but instead I felt depressed, exhausted, sad even. My hands, face and feet burned with pain. My once size ten, shapely body achieved through exercise and weight training, had ballooned into a size twenty two and for some obscure reason my feet and hands were getting bigger and it hurt. I did not want to go to work. This was inconceivable and distressing to me. On checking my appearance before leaving I noticed a swelling in my neck over the area of the thyroid gland. I grudgingly admitted to myself that this had gone on long enough and it was time to see the doctor.

I told the doctor of the intense headaches which lasted for days and explained the way I got through the day – by keeping a duvet handy and using my lunch hour to sleep under my desk in my office, (I still do this). The doctor noted the weight gain, flaky skin and lack of eyebrows without any prompting. I should say here that as a qualified aromatherapist I had regularly applied every conceivable concoction I could dream up but nothing seemed to alleviate the skin problem. My daughter, also an aromatherapist and bit of a wag, jokingly remarked that anyone else would be embalmed by now! I took Evening Primrose Oil Oenothera biennis, vitamins E and C and various other supplements regularly, a habit formed when I was a keep fit enthusiast.

I had tests and saw a consultant endocrinologist. The tests revealed abnormal levels of thyroxin, growth hormone and prolactin, the latter caused my mammary glands to produce copious amounts of milk, another unpleasant symptom. I was sent for a CAT scan. The scan revealed a pituitary tumour and I found it hard to equate the massive changes both physically and emotionally with the few cells collected together in an area no bigger than a marrowfat pea. Then I had an MRI scan which in turn showed up a series of benign tumours in and around the pituitary. The surgeon to whom I was referred used the word 'peppered'. Laser would not be the answer. Radium treatment was offered but I declined. I opted for an oral medication which the surgeon explained would hopefully reduce the tumours and perhaps eradicate them completely. I accepted the treatment along with other medications including corticosteroids and thyroxin and, endeavouring to treat myself holistically, incorporated complementary medicine into my regime. Nausea was and still is a side effect. My bones, ossified for many years, started to grow. In six months my feet grew from a size four to a seven. My cheekbones ached but responded well to massage. After about a year I noticed some changes, weight loss, skin improvements and less headaches. In all of this I have been determined to stay positive. I have repeatedly told myself and others that I will get well, but recovery is testing, even now. Every day I renew my determination to live, not simply exist. I use my best china, smell the flowers, stroke the cats, dabble in the greenhouse and put on my make up, (but not necessarily in that order)! In all this time I have missed only one day at work. Oh I know my slippers are big and I still have some bad days, but I'm making progress. I am grateful for the love of friends and family, I accept encouragement, I stay positive and remember like everyone else, I possess inside, the essence of what I once was – and I may become it again.

by Barbara Payne