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Breast cancer can be caused by a lot of things. These include hormonal imbalance (due to environmental toxins among others), ionizing radiation and trauma to the breast area, toxin build-up in the breast due to poor lymphatic drainage, tight bras (by impeding lymphatic circulation), genetic causes, etc. In a recent article on yahoo.com, it was noted that breast cancer rates dropped with a decrease in the use of HRT (hormone replacement therapy). The study was done in Canada on postmenopausal women in the earlier part of the decade. However, there is no mention whatsoever on what kind of hormones these women were put on. Synthetic hormones (non-bioidentical, derived from animal sources) could cause more hormonal imbalance in a woman’s body because the body is not used to processing these substances (unlike bioidentical hormones whose structure is similar to what the body produces and therefore is not recognized as foreign). It’s a good thing that there are bioidentical hormones available commercially now (at your regular pharmacies) as well as compounding pharmacies. All the risks and benefits should be taken into consideration before a person is placed on hormones. And for those women who prefer not be be on any hormones whatsoever, there are alternatives available including the use of herbal medications to alleviate the signs and symptoms associated with menopause. Homeopathic/spagyric remedies have also been used to help women go through perimenopause and menopause. As far as treatment for breast cancer is concerned (or any cancer, for that matter), I believe that an individualized, holistic approach should always be taken. In Europe, they are able to test cancer cell sensitivity to different chemotherapeutic agents (whether synthetic cancer drugs or natural agents), similar to how we are able to test infectious agent’s sensitivity to antibiotic medications. This test takes the guesswork out of what medication to use. For more information on this as well as other integrative approaches to cancer, please check out Suzanne Somer’s most recent book called “Knockout”. Check out http://www.breastcancerfund.org for more useful information on this subject.
Related Articles
- Declining breast cancer incidence in Canada with declining HRT usage (eurekalert.org)
Hot Tips, News and Trends for Healthy Aging By Dr. Joel Lopez, M.D. 
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