Cancer is one of the worst illnesses that affects a number of people in different forms. It’s not only adults that can suffer from cancer, children can also be impacted by this terrible illness. As it’s important to raise awareness of these issues, more people should consider doing something to show their support. Whilst all cancers are awful, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for over forty years, women have been told that the best way to lower their breast cancer risk is by getting a yearly mammogram. But is this the best advice we can offer for prevention? Doc Peters thinks otherwise…let’s look at the science.
Back in 2013, a landmark study was published in the Cochrane database System Review (the gold standard for medical meta-analysis) which combined data from ten of the best mammography studies. This was considered highly significant because it included over 600,000 women! After analyzing all of the data, the researchers concluded that there is “no evidence that mammography screening reduces overall mortality.“ Researchers say the value of mammograms has been overrated and their harms severely underrated. So much so, that the harm they cause appears to outweigh their benefits.
In addition, they found an extremely significant problem with this screening tool. Thirty percent of the “early breast cancers” detected by mammograms, in reality, weren’t breast cancers at all and would never have become a problem! In other words, for every 2,000 women invited for screening for 10 years, the researchers stated that only one will avoid dying of cancer while ten healthy women will be unnecessarily treated with potentially harmful surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
Why We Recommend a Thermogram: Take Control of Your Breast Health
Thermography is a completely safe infra-red picture that can “see” the physiological changes in the breast years before it becomes cancerous. It is effective for all ages, breast sizes, and densities, and isn’t hindered with the presence of implants, or reconstruction.
Thermography does not diagnose cancer. Instead, it measures temperature readings via color, which indicate levels of inflammation. So if your thermogram shows areas of high inflammation, it doesn’t mean you have cancer; rather, it lets you know you need to address that inflammation to avoid a potential issue that could lead to cancer.
Other benefits of a Thermal imaging include…
- Not painful…
- Non-invasive…
- Record a picture of the vascular changes in the breast
- Quick – your multi-image exams usually take less than 30 minutes…
- Makes no contact with your body — no body part compression like you experience with mammograms
- Emits NO radiation
- Benefit all ages of women~particularly, young women who want to monitor their breast health before the recommended age of 40.
Doc’s recommendation: Schedule a Baseline Breast Thermogram to establish the inflammation in your breast tissue Before it becomes an issue.
If you live in Los Angeles, we recommend you call Dr Diane Jordan DC to perform yourThermogram. She offers a reduced price in Oct/all of November of $175.00 ~mention Jeanne and Doc Peters when making your appt and you will enjoy excellent service from Dr Jordan and her staff.
Tips to Enhance Your Breast Health:
1) Enhance your estrogen metabolism and detoxification pathways
One of the strongest associations with breast cancer concern is higher levels of circulating estrogens in a woman’s body, particularly after menopause. Leading-edge research suggest breast health is partially determined by how well we convert and excrete estrogen metabolites in the body. This means effectively transforming both the estrogens that naturally occur in our bodies and xenoestrogens, or the toxic estrogenic like compounds found in food and the environment.
Sources of xenoestrogens:
- Fabric Softeners
- Nail Polish and many beauty products
- Plastic Food Containers like tupperware
- Plastic water bottles
- Styrofoam
- Hormone laden meats and poultry
We now know that heavy exposure to xenoestrogens can increase some women’s risk for developing breast cancer. Most environmental toxins and our own toxic hormone byproducts are flushed out through the gut and liver, but if toxins like xenoestrogens build up, they can block natural elimination and provoke a cascade of health issues, including weight gain, inflammation and hormonal imbalance, which can in turn, increase your risk of breast cancer.
Tip: Reduce your exposure to all plastics and chemicals. Switch to drinking your water out of a Sigg bottle or glass bottle. Don’t microwave your meals in a plastic container. Switch to using all natural beauty products and cleaning supplies to lessen your toxin load on your body.
2) Eat Your Cruciferous Vegetables for Toxin Elimination
Aim to eat a serving of cruciferous vegetables 4-5 X/week. Why? The active ingredients in these foods supports hormone balance and detoxification in the liver, gut and the lymphatic system of the breast. A study presented by Sherwood and colleagues, showed that women who eating 4 servings of vegetables a day excreted threefold more estrogen in their feces, had lower urinary excretion, and had 15-20% lower plasma estrogen levels. The above studies show a positive correlation between high plasma levels of estrogen and consumption of fat, as well as, a negative correlation with consumption of high fiber diet.
Eating Tip: Aim to buy a few servings of cruciferous vegetables each week such as cabbage, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower. or fermented veggies.
Supplement Tip: If you don’t eat enough of these vegetables, we 
highly recommend adding in the supplement DIM Avail (Diindolylmethane) to your regimen to provide the nutrients that can break down the estrogens and other toxins in the liver and lymph.
We always have this supplement on hand so call Cassi at 310-373-7830 and she can send or set aside a bottle for you.
3) Vitamin D3 Supplementation can Half your Risk of Breast Cancer
Here is some compelling evidence by Dr. Cedrick Garland in his 2006 Science article showed that individuals with higher Vitamin D levels (above 52 ng/ml) had 50% lower risk of breast cancer than those with a lower vitamin D level (serum <13 ng/ml).
Eating tip: We recommend taking 5000-10,000 IU /day of Vitamin D3 with a fat source to keep your serum vitamin D above 50ng/dl. We recommend Designs for Health Vitamin D supreme. This brand provides a clinically higher dose of vitamin D3 along with vitamin K1 and the MK-7 form of K2. Vitamins D and K are essential for optimal bone and arterial health and for maintaining the immune system in proper balance.