BREAST CANCER PREVENTION AND SCREENING

by Lawrence Wilson, MD

Breast cancers are one of the most common locations of cancer today, affecting millions of women. I believe this need not be the case. The real solution lies mainly with prevention, although if one gets breast cancer, natural therapy works very well in most cases, even rather advanced cases, in my experience. This article discusses both common methods used to help screen for and prevent breast cancer, and what to do if one finds a breast cancer.

PRIMARY PREVENTION

This means how to avoid the problem altogether. Often doctors call methods such as breast exams “prevention”. This is really secondary prevention or not prevention at all. It is early diagnosis and treatment, but not prevention.

Real prevention means living, eating and taking certain steps to keep cancer of all kinds far away from you. There is much you can do in this area, and the fact that it is not broadcast daily on television and elsewhere is shocking. It begins with a few simple nutritional principles that are discussed in a number of articles on this website.

1. No junk food. This means no refined sugar, preferably no sugar at all, no white flour, and preferably no wheat products at all. It also means eat fresh, organically grown food as much as possible, and avoid all food additives, preservatives, pesticides and the other 3000 chemicals that the corrupt FDA allows to be added to mainly processed and prepared foods of all kinds.

2. Animal protein daily or at least several times weekly. No vegetarian or raw food diets. I know this conflicts with what some others write, but it is a hard rule, in my opinion. Vegetarian and raw food regimens eventually deplete the body, even if they work in the short term and make people feel better. Read Vegetarian Diets for more on this important topic.

3. Eat about 70% of your diet as cooked vegetables. This is difficult at first, but becomes a simple habit of eating cooked vegetables at least twice a day and perhaps three times daily. These provide hundreds, if not thousands of anti-cancer nutrients and chemicals for our bodies.

4. Drink as close as you can to three quarts or three liters daily of spring water. Second best is carbon-only filtered tap water. Never drink reverse osmosis water, or other special or designer waters, many of which are made with reverse osmosis water. I also do not like alkaline waters or water prepared with multi-stage filters. Only carbon-filtered water seems to hydrate the body well. Also, do not drink much liquid with meals. Drink between meals only. For much more on this topic, read Water For Drinking on this site.

5. Do not eat much, if any, fruit, sweets, or juices except for 10-12 ounces of carrot juice daily or 1-2 ounces of wheat grass juice daily. The latter – carrot juice and wheat grass juice – on a daily basis are excellent for cancer prevention, but do not exceed the amounts listed above for more than a week, as too much juice of any kind is not needed or helpful at all in most cases.

6. If possible, do a daily coffee enema and use a near infrared sauna daily. This is a little more work, but is excellent as a cancer preventive method. It can practically reduce your risk of a serious cancer to zero if you do them faithfully.

7. Do not hold anger. This is a tall order, I know. However, breast cancer is often associated with anger toward men, in particular, that may be repressed or suppressed.

8. Supplements: A few simple nutrients can drastically decrease a woman’s chances of getting breast cancer. Why this is not announced everywhere I do not understand, It is like a plot against women’s health, and that of men as well, since it can prevent men’s cancers, too. Here are the vital nutrients for breast health that every woman needs to take. However, do not overdo on any of these, as this may feed the cancer:

Iodine. The form I prefer is kelp capsules from Nature’s Way or Solaray. Each casule is about 600 mg, and an average sized woman needs at least three daily, and better yet, 6 daily or up to about 3800 mg daily of kelp. This is safer than all other forms of iodine such as dulse, other sea vegetables like nori, Iodoral, Lugol’s solution, Prolamine Iodine and others. Kelp also provides many trace minerals including iron and others that women need.

Some people do not need to take kelp if they eat a lot of fish or a lot of seaweed, such as nori used in sushi bars. However, all fish except sardines, and almost all sushi is high in mercury and not recommended. In fact, although it tastes good, sushi is a dangerous food today if made with ahi tuna, mahi-mahi, shellfish, or even salmon. Also, eating raw fish is not wise, as some contains parasites such as fish tapeworm.

Kelp is the best form of iodine to use, in my view. Only use other forms of iodine if you cannot tolerate kelp. However, most people tolerate it well provided you begin slowly with it, with one or even one-half of a capsule daily and slowly increase the amount. This is because the iodine will remove iodine antagonists (chlorides, bromides, and fluorides) from the body. This rarely causes nausea, irritability, trouble sleeping, or other temporary and transient symptoms that go away as the iodine antagonists are removed from the body.

Vitamin D3. This amazing vitamin will reduce the chances of all kinds of cancer in the body, not just breast cancer. Every adult woman needs about 5000 iu daily of vitamin D3, which is the natural form found in fish oil or made from lanolin only. Do not use prescription vitamin D2 unless you cannot tolerate any vitamin D3 at all, as it is not nearly as good. Do not listen to doctors and others who say that one does not need this much vitamin D, or that it is toxic. It works excellently at this dose for almost everyone with no toxicity at all.

The only people who do not need to take this much vitamin D are those that eat three to four cans of sardines weekly. This will supply plenty of vitamin D. The only other foods that will also do this are eating tunafish or salmon. However, please avoid these and all other larger fish today, as they are much too high in mercury. Only the sardines are safe for now.

Omega-3 fatty acids. This is the other very important secret for breast health and specifically for breast cancer prevention. Everyone, today, tends to be very low in a type of fatty acid called the omega-3 fatty acids.

The reason for this is changes in our agriculture, mainly the use of corn to feed animals instead of pasture grasses. Also, pasteurization of dairy products contributes to the problem. In addition, anyone following a semi-vegetarian diet may be very low unless one takes extra flaxseed oil, fish oil, or eats sardines three to four times a week.

To obtain enough omega-3 fatty acids, please do not eat tunafish or salmon, though they are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. They contain much too much mercury. I know this because it always shows up on a person’s hair tissue mineral analysis, and many people report mercury toxicity symptoms from eating these foods. The most common symptom is a loss of mental clarity or some brain fog.

Eating 3 cans of sardines weekly, however, is excellent. If you don’t like the taste, put some mustard on them, or mash them with some mayonnaise, chopped onions and celery, or mix with another type of dip or sauce.

If you prefer, take a supplement of fish oil, about 1000 mg daily. You may also use instead flax oil or hemp oil, although these may not be quite as good as fish oil. Do not substitute krill oil, borage oil, primrose oil, black current oil. Also, just eating flaxseeds or just taking cod liver oil or a supplement of omega 3,6, and 9 like Udo’s Blend is not enough.

Take a multi-vitamin that supplies a little of vitamins A, B, C, E and minerals including calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, chromium and manganese. Also, take a powerful digestive aid with each meal, preferably one that contains ox bile and pancreatin. These supplements are helpful for most women because even the best food today is not that high in nutrients.

9. Even better than taking various vitamins and minerals, follow a complete nutritional balancing regimen. This is much superior because it will be tailored to your body, rather than just general recommendations. It will include all of the above, plus more specific suggestions about your diet, your supplements, drinking water type and amount, and a detoxification protocol for you. For more on this topic, read Introduction To Nutritional Balancing or just go to How To Begin A Nutritional Balancing Program

These are powerful preventive methods that can enable most women to avoid ever having to think about breast cancer. If everyone did the above, breast cancer would largely disappear.

EARLY DETECTION - SCREENING FOR BREAST CANCER

Even if you do your best to prevent breast cancer, it is still wise to use simple screening methods to help find possible breast lumps easily and early. This is especially the case if you are not careful enough with your diet and lifestyle as explained above, or if you know that you are at a higher risk of cancer for any reason. Let us discuss the most common and most important screening methods.

MONTHLY BREAST SELF-EXAMS

This is one of the best, or perhaps the best method of screening for breast lumps. It is simple, has no cost, and requires no doctor’s appointments, x-rays or other tests. It is also quite effective if a woman follows the directions that are on many websites as to how to do a breast self-exam.

Basically, once a month or so, lie in bed and begin by pressing firmly on the outer part of each breast. Slowly move in circles inward toward the nipple. You must press firmly and sense any changes in the texture or even the temperature of the tissue. Also, when you are dressing, look in the mirror with both breasts uncovered to see if the shape or way the breast hangs has changed in any way. This is all there is to it.

The only drawbacks are 1) some women will forget to do it, and 2) it is a little harder to do well if you have larger breasts, very lumpy breasts or perhaps if they are very small. However, it can be done by anyone at any age. First thing in the morning on the first of every month is a very good schedule.

A woman can also have a breast exam at a doctor’s office. The procedure is exactly the same.

ULTRA-SOUND TESTS

This is a quite non-invasive screening method used by some doctors as an office procedure. The way it works is that a sound beam or vibration is sent into the breast and it bounces back, where the vibration is picked up by a detector in the unit. It is like sonar used by submarines.

While it will detect some types of abnormalities, it is not considered that good. It also requires an expert to properly read the sonogram, as it is called. However, it is non-invasive, non-toxic and does not damage a woman’s breasts, as do mammograms.

MAMMOGRAMS

This is the standard test used for breast screening. I do not, at this time, recommend mammograms at all. The reasons are:

1. I believe you can do as well or better with a combination of breast self-examination once a month and perhaps the use of thermography.

2. Mammograms expose one to too much radiation if done on a regular basis.

3. Mammograms have many false positive results. This causes stress on many women, leads to more invasive surgeries that may not be needed, and is costly.

4. Damage to the breasts. Mammograms require that the breasts be pressed hard against the x-ray unit. This actually damages the breasts. In some women, their breasts are literally tender for days after a mammogram.

THERMOGRAPHY

This is a newer method of screening for breast cancer. It is a “heat picture” of the breasts that detects changes in the heat density of the breasts with a fair degree of accuracy. The procedure is simple and much less painful and involved than mammography.

A woman is placed in a room with only her top uncovered. The temperature in the room is allowed to stabilize in the room at about 66 degrees F. When this has occurred, several ‘heat photographs’ are taken of the breasts with a special infrared camera. These show only a color range from red for hot, to blue for cold. Although the heat picture is only of the surface, often abnormalities will be revealed that go deeper.

This technique has been around for many years. It has not gained much popularity, but it is growing slowly. I am not sure why it is not used more. It is as good as mammography in many ways, without the x-rays and without damaging the breasts by having to press them onto an x-ray plate. Some maintain that thermography is actually much better than mammography and can detect changes in the breast years before cancer even develops.

BREAST BIOPSIES

This is used, in most cases, only after a mammogram or some other test has indicated a strong possibility of cancer. A breast biopsy consists of inserting usually a rather large-gauge needle into a breast lump and removing some tissue. Then a technician or doctor looks at the tissue under a microscope to see if it looks cancerous. At times, an incision or cut is made in the breast and the lump is removed completely, especially if it is near the surface and easily accessible.

The problem with breast biopsies is that they traumatize the breast, even if just a small needle is used. This can cause cancer cells to be moved into the bloodstream, and this spreads the cancer. This can cause death in a few cases, so it is not a wise idea in many instances unless no other alternative is possible.

Another problem with breast biopsies is they can produce false negative and false positive results. A false negative means that the pathologist or doctor who views the tissue sample misses the cancer cells for some reason. He or she may just have looked at the wrong piece of tissue, and this is common. A false positive means that the doctors reports that you have cancer, when you do not. This also occurs, at times, and can lead to unnecessary surgery, drug treatments and more.

OTHER METHODS OF BREAST SCREENING

Blood tests for some types of cancers can be helpful. I recommend the blood tests done by American Metabolic Laboratories for any woman who is very concerned about cancer of any kind. While it does cost almost $500.00, you do not need a doctor’s prescription for this. The contact information for this test is found in the article on this site entitled Cancer, And Alternative Therapies.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND A BREAST LUMP

Breast lumps can be benign or cancerous. The most common type of benign breast lump is called fibrocystic breast disease. The breasts develop little fibrous cysts. If many occur, the breasts tend to feel somewhat lumpy. This is related to a copper and zinc imbalance, and in most cases is not dangerous, in itself, and does not require further testing.

One could also have a larger breast cyst, infection or inflammation, or even a calcified benign tumor that won’t cause much problems. conditions like this can be watched by using repeated breast self-exams to try to notice if the lump is growing. If it is stable, it is probably not a problem. If a lump is growing, then pay more attention to it.

Doctors also say if you can move the lump around it is better than if it seems fixed to the breast and cannot be moved around by your finger. However, this is not a hard rule.

Breast cancer. If you believe that you might have breast cancer because you detect a growing lump, for example, or perhaps you have lost weight for no good reason, or are feeling rather tired, you have several choices. Most people feel best going to a competent doctor and having further testing. This might include a breast exam, a sonogram, a mammogram or perhaps a breast biopsy. If the tests confirm or suggest a cancer, then most doctors will recommend immediate treatment such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. This is the path that many people choose.

The success rate varies with the type and stage of cancer. One must always ask about the chances of success, side effects of treatment, cost and other things, perhaps, such as if you will lose your hair or have other nasty effects of treatment. Beware that doctors use a five-year survival rate to rate their success. This means that if they tell you that your chances of recovery are 80%, for example, it only means that after five years, 80% of the people are still alive. If a patient dies one day after 5 years, the person is counted as “cured”, even though the person died.

I think this system of rating the outcome of cancer therapy is false and outrageous. I would use a 20-year survival rate and then the real failure of conventional cancer therapies would become much more obvious, and people would turn to natural approaches much sooner. I would definitely warn against most conventional cancer therapies. They are very toxic, costly, unreliable, and have many side effects. They do not generally nourish and rebuild the body. Instead, they make the body more toxic and more ill, even if they stop the cancer temporarily or permanently.

Natural approaches. In my experience over about 30 years, natural, non-toxic cancer therapy using only Protocel plus an entire natural healing program, or the Kelley metabolic cancer therapy with Pamela McDougle can stop most breast and other kinds of cancer, even advanced cases. Stay away from all other natural therapies, in my opinion. They are not reliable enough. Also, be careful who you work with, as most doctors are not sufficiently experienced with cancer and add or delete parts of programs, which can be fatal. For much more on cancer, read Cancer And Alternatives on this site.

Other natural cancer therapies. I would warn readers against most conventional and natural cancer therapies. These include holistic methods such as intravenous vitamin C, medicinal mushrooms, various herbs, chelation, natural hormones and hormone blockers, and others. They may work for a while, but I do not think they work nearly as well as the methods described in the Cancer And Alternatives article.

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