Breast Cancer Awareness: An Alternate Perspective From A Cancer Survivor

I would like to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month a little differently than most others. I have a different perspective. You see, I had breast cancer nine years ago. I rejected conventional medicine and went with an alternative approach.

I'm quite cynical about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout October I see stories about brave cancer survivors who survived their toxic treatments and went on to run marathons. I see stories about new, expensive cancer breakthroughs on broadcasts lucratively sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. These are the same multinational corporations that manufacture plastics, pesticides and fragrance chemicals that actually cause cancer!

Whether you count by dollars or numbers of people employed by it, Cancer is one of the largest industries in the country. How is it that the companies that cause cancer also manufacture the cancer drugs? When it comes to Big Pharma, news stories aren't so much news as propaganda. Watch carefully this month: How many breast cancer stories will show women being healed by natural, non-patented medicine? None.

Why is it that the research we're asked to fund looks for new treatments (as long as they can be patented), but never at the carcinogenic effects of plastics, pesticides and fragrance chemicals? Because it would rock the industrial boat that funds the research. Their definition of "prevention" is earlier detection. My definition of "prevention" is not getting it in the first place!

So why did I choose to risk my life with alternative medicine?

Two women whom I loved very much died of breast cancer not long before I got it. More accurately, they died of their cancer treatments. One was like a mother to me, the other, like a sister. They were both seemingly healthy when the cancer was discovered. Indeed one had no tumor site at all. At her annual physical, the doctor found some cancer cells trapped in a lymph node. That's what lymph nodes are supposed to do. Her immune system was working well.

They gave her every test they could to find the location of the cancer, to no avail. Then they proceeded to bombard the poor woman with "as much chemo as we can give you without actually killing you." After that, they gave her radiation therapy.

Once she had no immune system left, the cancer that her body had been keeping at bay took over with a vengeance. It spread to her hip bone. More radiation. Oops! Too strong. The radiation killed her hip bone so she needed a hip replacement. More chemo. No more visits from her beloved grandchildren because she had no immunity to germs.

The bone cancer spread to her arm. She had a painful surgery for that. Then to her skull- exactly where her mobile phone antenna had touched her head. The last three years of life for this once-vital, beautiful woman were spent in pain, wretched illness and isolation. She never complained once. She just accepted it as her fate. I held her hand as she died.

My other friend was only in her late 30's when they found the lump. She was a healthy vegetarian who practiced yoga, meditation, and alternative medicine. One day when she was getting a chiropractic adjustment, the doctor said her thyroid felt a little strange and suggested she get it checked.

She did, and it was fine. But the new doctor felt a breast lump and prescribed a mammogram and biopsy. Yep, take a little sealed-up tumor, crush it, radiate it and poke it repeatedly with a needle. Then act surprised when it suddenly metastasizes like crazy. The doctor actually told my friend that she had likely had the tumor for at least ten years.

My friend wanted to do alternative cancer therapies. Her oncologist said she should only do them as an adjunct to conventional treatment. Within a year she had lost her breast and was almost killed by chemo and radiation. The natural medicines, which are much more gentle, had no hope of working on a body that was so ravaged and sickened. Within another year she had lost the other breast, had more rounds of chemo, and died shortly after that.

The next year I found my lump, and within six weeks I had six lumps. I consulted with an M.D. and several alternative doctors. I read a bunch of books they recommended. I prayed and fretted, then decided that, live or die, I was going with non-toxic alternative medicine.

I called my late friend's husband and told him the news. He said, "Whatever you do, don't let the doctors get their hands on you. My wife told me before she died that she was sorry she ever listened to them. I believe that if she had gone a natural route she would be alive today."

So here is my advice for Breast Cancer Awareness:

1. Question Authority- Don't automatically believe the doctors, or anyone else. That includes this article.

    

2. Take Responsibility for Your Life- People who will spend weeks researching the pros and cons of a new car, carefully studying the fine print on a contract, will never study their medical options! Your doctor doesn't have to live or die with the consequences of your treatment, you do!

    

3. Learn About Your Options- They're out there, but your medical doctor has not studied them. Even if she has, she is forbidden to suggest them! Educate yourself before you're ever in a health crisis.

    

4. Be a Difficult Patient- Demand thermography instead of, or at least before, a mammogram. Thermography uses no radiation, does not crush the breast tissue, and can detect cancers months or even years before a mammogram can.

    

5. Learn About the Fungal Connection to Cancer- It can save your life.

Wishing you and yours the best of health!

Siri Amrit Kaur Khalsa is a cancer survivor. She started Tigerflag Natural Perfumery to give people natural alternatives to toxic fragrance products. She wrote a paper describing her successful battle with cancer as a resource to help others going through the difficult process of choosing their treatment.

You may print or publish this article as long as you use it in its entirety, with credit to the author and Tigerflag Natural Perfumery, LLC.

You Too Can Prevent Cancer, Including Breast Cancer

Cancer, breast cancer and breast cancer symptom can be prevented and may be cured with out any magic bullet according to two time Nobel Prize winner DR. OTTO WARBURG.

In 1931, DR. OTTO WARBURG who won his first Nobel Prize for his work on the cause of Cancer, claims that cancer begins to thrive in your body due to a lack of oxygen respiration in cells. DR. WARBURG'S research proves that cancer is no longer mystical, but infact occurs when any cell is denied 60% of it's oxygen requirement needed to produce energy.

According to DR. WARBURG, cancer unlike other diseases, may have many other secondary causes, but there is just the one prime cause, which relates to the oxygen requirement for cellular respiration.

He continues to explain that all normal body cells meet their energy needs by aerobic cellular respiration, whereas cancerous cells can only meet their energy needs in great parts through the process of fermentation, or anaerobically.

Cellular respiration, being a normal every day process of your healthy working body is required by every cell in order to produce energy for your body to function effectively, or you may experience breast cancer or breast cancer symptom.

As the blood picks up oxygen from the lungs, this oxygen must be efficiently circulated throughout the body to distribute nutrients and to produce energy in the cells. Any obstruction due to the clumping of plaque, from free radicals oxidation of LDL cholesterol, toxins and carcinogens, or from unhealthy blood platelets activities, inhibits the needed oxygen requirement of 60% for optimum cellular respiration according to DR. WARBURG, thus creating the formation of malignant cells.

For More Information, Please visit: http://www.bhealthyalways.com

Treatment of Breast Cancer

Stages Breast cancer has several stages starting from early to advanced stage. You can detect early stage after a few weeks of development. At the advanced stage cancer spread to other organs. Depending on the stage the treatment varies. Reoccurrence of breast cancer happens in case of malignant tumors.

Where it can spread It can spread to the back and hip bones, lungs, liver and brain.

What are the treatments for breast cancer? Breast cancer is treated by surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and hormonal therapy. Generally two or more treatments are combined together for better effect. Doctors combine surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and radiation. The treatment varies depending on many factors like the patient, the stage of breast cancer and instance of reoccurrence.

Surgery: Lumpectomy or the removal of the lump is a technique in surgery. Doctor may need to remove lymph nodes from your armpit or breast depending on the stage.

Chemotherapy: Drugs and medicines are used which restrict or stop cancer cell growth. These medicines may also reduce the size of the lumps and tumors. Some medicines even kill the tumours.

Hormonal therapy: Doctors use some anti-estrogen, aromatase inhibitors or LHRH analogues to stop the hormone estrogen production and effects. Estrogen is a sex hormone found in women body which helps in growth of the breast cancer. When Estrogen is stopped then the growth of the tumours also ceased.

Radiation therapy: X-rays or other high-energy rays are used to kill the cancer cells. These rays are applied to the tumours and surrounding areas.

Bikash is an MBA who works as an freelance writer. He worked for on eof the best private banks in India. He has been writing for the last 5 years. He has worked with many US,UK and Indian clients.

Visit him at http://bikiassam.tripod.com

Breast Cancer Awareness

In recent years, the incidence of breast cancer among women has increased. As a result of this, organizations that aim to raise breast cancer awareness have doubled their efforts to give women around the world the right information to help them prevent and deal with this disease. These organizations teach women to detect early signs of cancer and recognize the symptoms of the disease. It has been proven that early detection increases a woman?s chance of survival by as much as 96 percent.

Symptoms

Some of the symptoms that women are told to watch out for include lumps, which are usually firm and painless. Other possible symptoms include swelling on the underarms and on the skin on the breasts which then develops an unusual appearance. Women are also asked to look out for veins that become prominent in the breast area. Other symptoms also include inverting of the nipples, rashes and changes in skin texture, depressions on the breast area and discharges other than breast milk.

Early Detection Plan

However, looking out for symptoms is usually not enough in detecting this disease, since there are instances in which patients are asymptomatic until the cancer reaches stage 3 or 4. To be able to prevent this, breast cancer organizations encourage women to come up with an early detection plan, which includes clinical breast examinations every three years for women aged 20 to 39, then every year thereafter. A monthly breast examination for women beginning at age 20 is also encouraged. Mammograms every two years for women in their 40s and yearly mammograms for women in their 50s are also being emphasized. Women are also told to keep a record of these exams and their appointments with their doctors. Additionally, women are urged to eat a low-fat diet, engage in regular exercise and avoid smoking and drinking alcohol.

The importance of early detection of breast cancer cannot be denied since it has been proven to increase a cancer patient?s survival rate by as much as 96 percent. Given this, it is then important for women to do what they can to prevent having to suffer unnecessarily from this disease. Having an early detection plan is an effective way of doing just that.

Breast Cancer provides detailed information on Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Treatments, Breast Cancer Symptoms, Cause Of Breast Cancer and more. Breast Cancer is affiliated with Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Breast Cancer - Myths

Myth: An individual will probably get breast cancer if her mother or grandmother had it.

If an individual's mother or grandmother has had breast cancer does not necessarily mean that they will end up with it even though they are in a higher risk group. Most women who end up getting breast cancer do not have a family history of it. It is recommended that you have a mammogram done if your mother, sister, grandmother or daughter had or has breast cancer.

Myth: Breast cancer is caused by the birth control pill.

This is not true. Contraceptive pills have small quantities of the hormones progesterone and estrogen which is often linked with increased risk of breast cancer. Despite the presence of these two hormones and the prolonged use for a period of 10 years and more it does not cause breast cancer. Birth control pills have some benefits too. They are, they decrease the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer, they relieve pelvic inflammatory disease, menstrual disorders and they improve the bone mineral density.

Myth: Only women get breast cancer - Men do not get the disease.

This is not true. Though the percentage is smaller men do get breast cancer, therefore, it is important for men too to exam themselves monthly and report any changes noticed to their doctor immediately. In 2004, it was estimated that around 1450 men with breast cancer and that 470 will eventually die from it.

Myth: Lawn chemicals, pesticides and dry cleaning services cause breast cancer.

A few small studies have shown this as a possibility but larger studies on this subject have indicated otherwise.

Myth: You are likely to get breast cancer if you have a risk factor.

This is not so. Even if you have a breast cancer gene abnormality, which is one of the stronger risk factors, it does not mean you will end up with cancer. 40% to 80% of women with an inherited genetic abnormality, that is, BRCA1 or BRCA2 may sometime in their life develop breast cancer. 20% to 60% will not develop it. The presence of all other risk factors poses very little threat.

Myth: If you have a lump in your breast you will get breast cancer.

This is not so as it is found that eight out of ten lumps are not malignant or cancerous. If you discover any abnormalities or even a persistent lump in your breast it is best you consult your physician at once as early detection would result in better treatment and recovery.

Myth: Breast cancer will end up in death.

This is not so. 80% of the breast cancer diagnosed women show no spread of the cancer cells beyond the breast or to nearby lymph nodes. Also 80% of these women continue to live for a further five years and some even longer.

Myth: Younger women run a higher risk of breast cancer than older women.

As a woman gets older the risk of her getting breast cancer is also higher as age is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer. It is therefore important for a woman starting from the age of about forty to self examine her breasts monthly for any lumps or irregularities; get regular mammograms and a clinical breast examination done yearly in order to detect an early development of cancer. Women in the age group 20 - 40 should also carry out monthly self breast examination and clinical breast examinations every three years or so.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

An Overview Of Breast Cancer

Many women consider their breasts to be their defining feature and cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases of the world. As the name signifies, cancer of the breast, or breast cancer, is a type of cancer. It is predominantly a female disease and it is one of the most common forms of cancer. In the United States alone, approximately 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, though the figure is somewhat lower in countries like Canada and Australia. It is also a major cause of cancer deaths in women. The majority of patients are women who have crossed the menopause stage. Birth control pills also increase the chances of its occurrence as do treatments like HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy). Being overweight and the excessive consumption of alcohol also contribute significantly to it. The occurrence of breast cancer in family members can increase the chances as there is a gene which can be inherited.

What is Breast Cancer? Simply put, cancer of the tissues in breast is called breast cancer. It usually surfaces in the form of a lump or tumor in and around the breast. Every lump found in the breasts is not necessarily an indicator of breast cancer; sometimes it may not be associated with breast cancer at all. It is normal for lumps to be formed, especially during the growing up stage. They can also be formed as a result of hormonal changes and they are usually temporary.

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

It is not possible to detect this disease in the starting stages. The symptoms start appearing slowly and slowly as the disease progresses. They could be anything like:

. A lump or swelling in the breast or adjoining area like the underarm.
. Increase or decrease in the shape or size of the breasts.
. Dimpling or change in the color of the skin
. Discharge from the nipples.

Factors that increase the risk of Breast Cancer

. Contraceptives.
. Hormone therapy.
. Overweight.
. Alcohol.
. Age factor.
. Genes.
. Dairy products.

How To Detect Breast Cancer

Early detection of breast cancer is vital to cure the disease. The sooner it is detected, the better. The chances of curing it are more if detected in the early stages. It is very difficult to cure it in the advanced stages. There are many ways to find out if you are suffering from breast cancer. A few of them are:

. Medical examination of breasts and armpits by a doctor, at least once in a year.
. Mammogram, especially if you are above 40 years of age.
. Ultrasound, can be done separately or combined with other tests.
. BSE (Breast Self-Examination).
. Biopsy.

Types of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer occurs broadly in two places, lobules or the milk ducts. They are:

. Invasive lobular carcinoma - Cancer originated in the lobules, but has now spread.
. Invasive ductal carcinoma - Cancer, which originated in the milk ducts but has spread.
. Lobular carcinoma in situ - Cancer in the lobules.
. Ductal carcinoma in situ - Cancer in the milk ducts.

Treatments available for Breast Cancer

There are various options available for its treatment. Some of them are:

. Surgery.
. Radiation Therapy.
. Chemotherapy.
. Hormone Treatment.

Prevention of Breast Cancer

The most important aspect of this dangerous and fatal disease is prevention. The various treatment options are costly and damaging to the body. The old saying prevention is better than cure is aptly applicable to this disease. Prevention of breast cancer is more important than its cure. Routine medical examinations and immediate medical advice in case of suspected symptoms can greatly reduce the chances of breast cancer spreading.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer - Recurrence

One of the issues that every breast cancer survivor must deal with is the possibility of the cancer coming back. We call this a recurrence and even though rates of breast cancer recurrence are lower and survival rates much higher, there is still that chance that the breast cancer will come back after the initial occurrence and treatment. There are three ways in which breast cancer can recur.

The first type of recurrence is called a local recurrence. when cancer recurs locally, it will come back in the original breast area. This is because of a failure of the original treatment. Even when there is a mastectomy, a local recurrence can happen because it is impossible remove all the breast tissue, skin and fat from the area. If even one cancer cell remains after the initial treatment, a local recurrence can happen.

The second type of recurrence is regional in nature. By regional we mean that the cancer has come back outside of the original breast and lymph node area. This is considered to be more serious than a local recurrence, but not as serious as a distant recurrence. The areas in which regional spread of the disease occur include the chest muscles (pectoral), the lymph nodes surrounding the neck area, the internal breast lymph nodes in the breast bone and rib areas and in the lymph nodes above the collarbone. This type of recurrence is rare.

The third and most serious type of recurrence is called a distant recurrence. This is also referred to as a metastasis. The areas where distant spread can occur are most likely to occur are bone (25%), liver, brain, bone marrow, lungs or other organs. Sometimes this is referred to as metastatic disease or Stage IV breast cancer. The survival rate becomes much lower once metastasis occurs, with a life expectancy of 18 months on the average after discovering it.

Symptoms of metastatic breast cancer may include bone pain, shortness of breath, lack of appetite, weight loss (possible indication of liver metastases, neurological pain or weakness and headaches.

If you are a breast cancer survivor, you should be aware of the symptoms of metastatic spread. These symptoms can include bone pain (bone), weight loss (liver), loss of appetite (liver), headaches (brain), neurological pain or weakness (brain/spine) and shortness of breath (lungs). However, keep in mind that having one or more of these symptoms does not mean you should panic. A good rule of thumb is the "three week rule". If you have a pain or other symptom that lasts more than three week, see your doctor. If you have an unrelenting pain or constant pain, see a doctor. Cancer pain does not go away compared other types of pain which will come and go. Like back pain caused by muscle spasms and/or non-cancer related disc problem.

If you suspect you have a recurrence of breast cancer, see your doctor. They will schedule some diagnostic tests like a CAT scan, bone scan, or MRI to try to find the root of your symptoms. Usually surgery is not a treatment option, but there are many other treatments, like radiation and/or chemotherapy that could possibly put a recurring cancer back into remission. There are amazing advances in treatment being made all the time.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer