October is breast cancer awareness month, in case you haven’t seen the pink ribbons on practically every consumer item.
According to last week’s bulletin from the state health department (KDHE), 1,916 women were diagnosed in Kansas with breast cancer in 2007 (the most recent year for which statistics are available). In 2009, 369 women and 3 men died of breast cancer in Kansas.
The bulletin said, “Several lifestyle recommendations may reduce the risk of breast cancer. These include avoiding tobacco, staying active, maintaining a healthy body weight, limiting alcohol intake to one or fewer drinks per day, and increasing fiber intake with whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.”
At my mammogram last week, I was asked a series of questions as part of the exam. I was NOT asked anything about smoking, food and alcohol intake or my exercise regimen. I was asked:
- at what age did my period begin and menopause begin;
- how many pregnancies did I have;
- how many children were living;
- had I ever used oral contraceptives or post-menopausal hormones.
That is because any honest expert understands that breast cancer is largely an “estrogen” story, and the questions all reflect that.
Estrogen surges at puberty, decreases at menopause, and rises 2000% above monthly peaks during each pregnancy except during nearly all pregnancies that naturally miscarry in the first trimester. Estrogen is also affected by birth-control and menopausal hormonal regimens.
Estrogen multiplies breast cells and breast cells are vulnerable to cancer-causing agents until they mature by having become milk-producing cells. This is why the World Health Organization has taught for over 50 years that the first, full-term birth gives the mother the strongest life-long protection from breast cancer.
The carefully-posed question #3 about living children is supposed to deduce the number of miscarriages and induced abortions. They are not the same biological events.
Miscarriages in the first trimester are predominantly due to a lack of estrogen, and thus do not increase breast cells. Later -term natural miscarriages and induced abortions (in all stages) end the pregnancy, but they leave the mother with MORE un-matured (cancer-vulnerable) breast cells than she had before pregnancy.
Although lowering one’s statistical risk of breast cancer is not a reason to become pregnant, it sure is information pertinent to remaining pregnant. In fact, breast surgeon Dr. Angela LanFranchi writes,
It amounts to child abuse to take a teenager in a crisis pregnancy for an abortion. At best, it will give her a 30% risk of breast cancer in her lifetime. At worst, if she also has a family history of breast cancer, it will nearly guarantee this. As a mother, I need to be informed of this to protect my daughter.
In an October 2010 KDHE press release, the state health officer wrote, “Other [breast cancer] risk factors are potentially – but not easily – modifiable, such as getting your first menstrual period early (before age 12 years), having your first child after age 35 or never having a child, and reaching menopause after age 55 years.” This truth is reflected in questions #1-2 of the mammogram questionnaire.
The 2010 release added, “Many people overestimate family history in calculating their risk. In fact, genetic factors account for no more than 5 to 10 percent of cases. Most women who develop breast cancer have no close relatives with a history of the disease, and most female relatives of breast cancer patients will never get the disease themselves….Still other risk factors for breast cancer are more modifiable, at least with determined effort. These include… long-term use of hormone replacement therapy…”
Thus, the 2010 bulletin shows the basis for question #4. However, neither the 2010 or 2011 KDHE bulletins explain the estrogen story behind breast cancer that is obviously reflected in the mammogram questionnaire.
The most avoidable breast cancer risk, but one so politically incorrect they dare not even speak its name– is ABORTION.
For more information, go to the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute for explanations in a reader-friendly booklet that can be ordered or downloaded.
LifeNews.com Note: Kathy Ostrowski is the legislative director for Kansans for Life, a statewide pro-life group.