Responsibility a big part of disease prevention
It was an honor to speak to a group of 100 sorority sisters and their parents about breast cancer awareness during the University of Florida's recent Family Weekend. And it was thrilling to tell these women and their loved ones that there's actually something they can do to help prevent the disease that will strike nearly 179,000 women before 2007 comes to a close.There's no mistaking the fact that illness can affect us due to no fault of our own. But it's also a cop-out to claim we bear no responsibility for preventing the health disasters that befall us.
I like to think I developed cancer by mere chance, that nothing I did invited this curse into my life. But when I really dig deep, I wonder if the loads of weight I gained during two pregnancies might have upped my risk. Or was it the sugary, fatty snacks I ate "in moderation?" Or the one-beer-with-dinner habit I practiced for a short time? I'll never know for sure. But what I do know is that I can change my lifestyle to make sure I never again wonder about these few questionable behaviors.
And that's what I've done -- changed my lifestyle. No more weight gain. No more junk-food snacks. No more alcohol. And that's what I told the women who faced me at the elegant and powerful breast cancer awareness brunch they hosted.
"It's clear that a clean diet and regular strenuous exercise can help prevent breast cancer," I told them. "Unhealthy habits -- like drinking as little as one alcoholic drink per day, smoking, and obesity -- are all linked to increased risk."
It was an honor to share this message. And it's thrilling to know each of us actually has some say in how our health unfolds over the years. It's a big responsibility we have. But thank goodness we have it.
For a few tips on how to prevent breast cancer, visit this American Cancer Society resource. Note the plentiful lifestyle factors at the end of the document -- each one is somehow linked to a higher breast cancer risk.
1. Fibrocystic Breast Disease, the Iodine Deficiency Connection
A good friend of ours just went through an ordeal with breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer has increased to 1 in 8 women, with 4,000 new cases weekly.
You might ask, could there be a preventive measure which is safe, cheap and widely available that has been overlooked?
The answer is YES , and it’s the essential mineral, Iodine, which was added to table salt in 1924 as part of a national program to prevent Goiter. It turns out that this same Iodine in table salt is the key to breast cancer prevention as proposed by the following list of prestigious doctors:
Guy Abraham, MD, Robert Derry MD PHD, David Brownstein MD, George Flechas MD, Donald Miller, M.D.
Dr. B.A. Eskin published 80 papers over 30 years researching iodine and breast cancer, and he reports that iodine deficiency causes breast cancer and thyroid cancer in humans and animals. Iodine deficiency is also known to cause a pre-cancerous condition called fibrocystic breast disease.
W.R. Ghent published a paper in 1993 which showed iodine supplementation works quite well to reverse and resolve fibrocystic changes of the breast, and this is again the subject of a current clinical study.(Can J Surg. 1993 Oct;36(5):453-60.)
Despite its obvious potential, not much has been done with Iodine treatment over the past 40 years in the United States. Since iodine isn't patentable and is therefore unlikely to be profitable to market, there is no money to fund studies for “FDA approval". However, FDA approval is not required since Iodine is already an additive to table salt at the supermarket.
For more information see my newsletter.
Jeffrey Dach MD my web site
Posted at 4:58PM on Oct 21st 2007 by Jeffrey Dach MD