Breast Cancer

"Whom can you trust when your culture is the biggest enemy of your health? Can you trust your culture's leading authorities? Can you trust your culture's government? Can you trust your culture's private industry?"

We asked those questions in 1995, at the end of our book, Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras. Before writing our book, we sent details of our research to the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, President's Cancer Panel, American Women's Medical Association, National Organization for Women, National Women's Health Network, and National Women's Health Resource Center. There was no response. Not one. Given the lack of interest, we decided to publish our findings in a book, getting the information directly to the women who needed to hear it.

But are women getting the message?

It has been 12 years since our book was first published. Over that time, more than 500,000 women in the US alone have died from breast cancer, with another 2,000,000 having been diagnosed with this terrible disease -- a disease that is in most cases preventable by simply loosening up or eliminating the bra. And yet, this lifesaving information has been actively suppressed and censored by the medical and lingerie industries.

Examples of Suppress and Censorship

A large public relations firm in New York City was willing and eager to help us release this information to the public. "My wife just had breast cancer, and I'm sure you are right," the head of the firm confessed. A big media announcement and celebration were planned. Days later, however, the firm withdrew its offer to help, stating that one of their clients, a large medical center, objected to their working with us.

A Sydney, Australia public relations firm agreed to help publicize our work when we were doing outreach efforts in their country. But it, too, reversed itself. We had asked if they had any conflicts of interest, such as lingerie industry clients. They said they had none. But as it turned out, they did represent a pharmaceutical company that makes a breast cancer treatment drug, and the prevention of breast cancer and its treatment are in conflict, they explained.

The Intimate Apparel Council (which is the US trade association for the multi-billion dollar bra industry) threatened our publisher, Avery Publishing Group, with a lawsuit if Dressed To Kill was released. The publisher said the publicity would help spread the word. The lawsuit never materialized.

After the book was released, the NBC television news show, Dateline, was interested in doing a story on our work. We were extensively interviewed by a skeptical reporter who became a supporter. The story was then abruptly terminated. The producer confidentially explained that the policy of General Electric, which owns NBC, is to avoid airing news stories that can adversely impact on other GE interests. As it happens, GE is a manufacturer of mammography machines.

Women's magazines, such as Glamour, Self, and others, ran critical stories condemning our work, and finding "experts" to encourage women to continue wearing bras. Elle magazine planned a positive story about the bra/cancer link, but was coerced into pulling the story by bra advertisers. In various newspapers around the world, such as the Guardian in the UK, stories were pulled prior to publication because of fear that they may "panic the public", including their lingerie advertisers.

The British Fashion Council (which is the UK's equivalent of the Intimate Apparel Council) published the Breast Health Handbook in 1996 to oppose our efforts. They announced the formation of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Foundation, which was to receive donations from bra sales to fund genetic research into breast cancer. The book criticized our work, claiming, "The idea that wearing a bra encourages cancer by trapping toxins was recently put forward by researchers at the Institute for Culturogenic Studies (sic) in Hawaii. Researchers from more august establishments promptly dismissed it as claptrap." Without any medical evidence or research, the book informs women that wearing bras is a health necessity, and should be worn as early in life as possible to prevent breast damage.

Our original publisher, Avery, was purchased by giant Penguin Putnam in 1998. The new publisher did not list the book for three years and refused to revert publication rights to the copywrite holders, Singer and Grismaijer. The book was virtually unavailable, and it was thought to have gone out of print. Finally, after repeated requests, the publishing rights were released to us in October, 2001. (ISCD Press has been keeping it in print since then.)

A television documentary was produced in the year 2000 by Channel 4 in the UK, called, Bras- The Bare Facts. In the documentary, 100 women with fibrocystic breast disease went bra-free for 3 months to document the effect on breast cysts and pain. Two prominent British breast surgeons conducted the study. The results were astounding, and clearly demonstrated that the bra is a serious health hazard. We were interviewed for the program to discuss the bra/cancer connection, which was considered highly plausible and important by the doctors interviewed. Some theorized that, in addition to lymphatic impairment, the bra could also cause cancer by overheating the breasts. The documentary made newspaper headlines in British Commonwealth countries throughout the world, but no mention of it was made at all in the US. The following day, headlines in the U.K. tried to suppress fears of the bra/cancer link, and the doctors in the study quickly distanced themselves from the cancer issue, telling women to continue wearing bras. Their research for the documentary was supposed to be published in a medical journal, but never was. And no further research ever materialized to follow-up on their work, which they said they would do. Extensive news coverage of the program was available on the Internet soon after it aired, but most articles were removed shortly thereafter.No follow-up studies have been done to refute or confirm our research. None. While a Harvard study, published in the European Journal of Cancer in 1991, discovered that bra-free women have a lower rate of breast cancer, the results were not central to the research they were conducting and were considered unimportant and not followed-up. In fact, apart from our initial 1991-93 Bra and Breast Cancer Study, discussed in detail in Dressed To Kill, and our follow-up research in Fiji, discussed in our book, Get It Off!, there are still no other studies on the bra/cancer link. Not even a letter or discussion of the issue can be found in any medical journal. After decades of breast cancer research, the bra is still completely ignored as even being a potential factor for consideration. It's like studying foot disease and ignoring shoes.

Keeping the Public Mystified

This lack of research, and the consequent ignorance, are then used by cancer organizations to justify further suppression of the issue. As the American Cancer Society states on its website, (ignoring the Harvard study), "There are no scientifically valid studies that show a correlation between wearing bras of any type and the occurrence of breast cancer. Two anthropologists made this association in a book called Dressed To Kill. Their study was not conducted according to standard principles of epidemiological research and did not take into consideration other variables, including known risk factors for breast cancer. There is no other, credible research to validate this claim in any way." And they don't seem interested in funding any such studies in the near future, either. There are other organizations that are similarly critical of the bra/cancer link for lack of research evidence, while at the same time discouraging any research on the subject.

Of particular interest is when breast cancer organizations antagonistic to the issue declare the bra/cancer link to be "misinformation" or a "myth", without any scientific study supporting their claims. They say bras are important for women to wear for support, without any evidence showing bras are safe or necessary. They then encourage regular mammograms, cancer prevention drug therapy (not realizing that "prevention therapy" is an oxymoron), and even preventative mastectomies (which means that those who are high risk for breast cancer but who don't want to get it can have their breast removed as a prevention strategy). Of course, it is better to remove the bra instead of the breasts, but bra removal is not a billable procedure.

Keep in mind that bras have been associated with other health problems, such as headaches, numbness in the hands, backache and other postural problems, cysts, pain, skin depigmentation, and more. And lymphatic blockage, which is the result of bra constriction, has already been associated with various cancers. Clearly, the bra/cancer link needs further research, while women take the precaution of loosening up.

Why the resistance?

What harm could there be in following our simple advice, or in even researching this issue? Why the defensive reaction?

There are three reasons:

1. The bra industry fears class action lawsuits. Many insiders have admitted to us that for years the industry suspected underwires were causing cancer. They know that tight bras cause cysts and pain. It is only a matter of time until a lawsuit is made against a bra manufacturer. As a defense, the industry is shifting the blame to the customer, claiming that most women are wearing their bras too tightly, and should get professional fittings. (How do you get a properly fitted push-up bra?) Breaking ranks with their industry peers, and trying to capitalize on the bad news, are several bra manufacturers that now offer newly patented bras claiming to mitigate the damage, including cancer, caused by conventional bras.

2. The medical industry is making billions each year on the detection and treatment of breast cancer. As mentioned above, there is a conflict between the prevention and the treatment of disease, especially if the prevention does not include drugs or surgery. The fact is that our treatment-focused, profit-oriented medical system is making a killing treating this disease, and has billions to lose if breast cancer goes out of fashion along with bras.

In addition, the bra issue will revolutionize the breast cancer field, embarrassing many researchers. Breast cancer research to date that has ignored the bra issue is seriously flawed as a result, which is why the "experts" are still unable to explain the cause of over 70% of all breast cancer cases. Career cancer researchers who have ignored the bra issue will have to admit this fatal flaw in their work, which they are not inclined to admit in their lifetimes.

3. Finally, there is the dogmatic, fearful resistance from some women who find their personal identity so connected to their bras that they would rather risk cancer than be bra-free (which some women have actually told us.) Women are cultural entities, and so long as our culture scorns a natural bustline, many women will submit to the pain, red marks and indentations, cysts, and even the threat of cancer rather than face potential public ridicule (which never really happens.)

There are also women who believe the myth that bras will prevent droopy breasts. The bra industry admits this is a myth, while it still promotes it to improve sales. In fact, bras cause breasts to droop, as the breasts become dependent on the bra for support and the natural supportive mechanisms atrophy from non use.

Despite the resistance, however, some women have gotten the message. And many health care professionals, who have also suspected bras for years, are now spreading that message. As women hear the news and discover that eliminating the bra also eliminates cysts and pain, the news further spreads by word of mouth.

There are now thousands of websites on this subject, many from health care professionals including medical doctors, naturopathic doctors, osteopathic doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, lymphatic specialists, nutritionists, and others who care about women and helping end this epidemic. Grassroots efforts to keep this information alive and spreading have supplanted the traditional medical research approach, which has disqualified itself for lack of interest and conflict of interest.

When a disease is caused by the culture and its habits, attitudes, fashions and industries, there is bound to be resistance to change. Industries that contribute to disease will be defensive, and industries that profit from disease will be conflicted. However, the truth has a way of getting out, despite the resistance and suppression. Thank Goodness the truth does have a way of getting out.

If you suffer from breast pain, cysts, or lumps, and fear developing breast cancer, you can participate in an international Breast Cancer Prevention Project.

This project has shown a 95 percent success rate in improving breast health. After years of suffering from breast pain and cysts, many participants have found phenomenal improvement within days of starting this program. It is cost-free, risk-free, and is the best thing you can do to prevent breast cancer, as well. It all has to do with the cultural practice of wearing tight bras, and the effect this has on the circulation within the breasts.

Why would bras be linked to breast disease and cancer? It has to do with the effect of bras on breast circulation, specifically the effect of bras on the lymphatic system.

It is the bloodstream's job to deliver fresh, oxygenated fluid to the tissues and to remove carbon dioxide. It is the lymphatic system's job to remove fluid, called lymph, from the tissue spaces, along with debris, viruses, cancer cells, bacteria, toxins, and other unwanted material. The lymphatic system consists of microscopic vessels that originate in the tissue space and lead to larger, but still tiny, vessels that ultimately enter a lymph node. These nodes are bean-sized filters lined by white blood cells. Most of the breast's lymph nodes are in the armpit. If the nodes detect a virus, cancer cell, or other foreign or hazardous substance in the tissue fluid, they begin an immune response of producing white blood cells to combat the problem. Once through the lymph node the fluid works its way through larger lymphatic vessels back to the heart and the bloodstream.

One important fact about the lymphatic system is that it is a passive drainage system. While the bloodstream delivers fluid under the pumping pressure of the heart, the lymphatic system has no pressure. Its flow is influenced by gravity, breathing, exercise and movement, and massage. And the slightest constriction or compression of the tissue can close the tiny lymphatic vessels down, inhibiting lymph flow and leading to fluid accumulation, cysts, pain, and tenderness. This fluid congestion within the tissue is called lymphedema.

Women who have fibrocystic breast disease essentially have lymphedema of the breast. Its cause, we discovered, is the impairment of lymphatic flow by pressure from the bra. Bras are elastic garments that exert constant pressure on the breast tissue. Their purpose is to push the breasts into a more fashionable shape. Yet, this pressure can cut down on flow within the lymphatic system, reducing its ability to remove fluid and toxins from the breast tissue.

The toxins that are within the breast tissue include some biochemical products of tissue edema, such as free radicals, which are known to cause cancer. In addition, there are also toxins in our air, food and water, including pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and other products of our petrochemically polluted world. Many of these are known to cause cancer. We deliver these toxins to all our tissues each day through the bloodstream. It is the job of the lymphatics to remove these toxins. And it is this job that the bra inhibits by its compression and constriction of the breasts.

This is how bras cause breast cancer. Cancer causing toxins are delivered to the breast tissue by the bloodstream, and are kept there by the bra. The toxins are the bullets. The bra holds them in place, pointed directly at the breasts.

This explains why women have more cancer in the breast than elsewhere in their bodies. The breasts are the most clothing constricted of any organ. It also explains why women have more breast cancer than men, and why breast cancer is only a problem in cultures in which bras are worn. Where there are no bras, there is virtually no breast cancer.

We had written about this, and the results of our 1991-93 Bra and Breast Cancer Study, in our book Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras (ISCD Press). Our study was conducted on approximately 4700 U.S. women, about half of whom had breast cancer. We asked these women about their past bra-wearing attitudes and habits. What we discovered was that the women in the cancer group had a history of wearing bras tighter and longer than did the non-cancer group. In fact, many women in the cancer group slept with their bras on. Almost none were bra-free. This differed greatly from the non-cancer group.

When the results were analyzed, they revealed that women who wear bras over 12 hours daily have a dramatically increased risk of developing breast cancer compared to bra-free women. In fact, bra-free women have about the same chances of developing breast cancer as men have, and this is over 100 times less than that for women wearing bras 18-24 hours daily. When you consider that smoking increases the incidence of lung cancer 20-30 times, this makes the link between breast cancer and bras 4-5 times greater than the link between cigarettes and lung cancer!

Of course, the easiest way for a woman to determine if her own bra is damaging her breasts is to go without a bra for a while and feel the difference. That is what the Breast Cancer Prevention Project is about. You simply have to commit to being bra-free for one month. Your body will tell you the results.

For the thousands of women who have tried this, the results are spectacular. Having bound their breasts since puberty, the feeling of breast freedom sometimes may seem strange at first. But within days, the breasts have their chance to drain of congestion and excess fluid. Tenderness ends. Menstrual breast pain may disappear altogether. Cysts vanish. It's like a miracle.

Interestingly, some women have become so conditioned to wearing a bra that they feel uncomfortable without one. That is because their breasts have become reliant on the bra for support, causing the loss of function of the musculature and ligaments that normally support the breasts. In other words, bras cause the breasts to be weak and droop. There are many large breasted women of all ages who have firm, healthy, trouble-free breasts because they have never worn a bra.

The congestion of the breasts by the bra also increases breast weight, since the breasts are essentially swollen by edema. This can cause the breasts to feel painful when the bra is removed. Fortunately, once the bra is no longer worn, the breasts can decongest and can develop their tone again. Many women reported that their breasts lifted up within months of ending the bra habit.

The cause of breast cancer must be eliminated if the breast cancer epidemic is to end. It should have been clear decades ago that breast binding could lead to cancer and other breast diseases. However, a culture is never objective about its own foibles. And with a cancer industry making lots of money treating breast cancer, and a fashion industry making lots of money selling bras, there is great financial incentive in keeping women wearing bras, and then in treating their breast disease when it happens.

Life saving early detection is the key to breast caner survival. Survival of Stage 4 breast cancer is significantly lower than if it is detected at earlier stages.

Breast cancer when it has advanced can spread to other tissue through out the body. This can include lung tissue, the liver, the brain and bone tissue. When breast cancer is first identified at Stage 4 it has inundated the body's own ability to fight off the disease in order for it to have spread this far. According to the American Cancer Society when the disease is diagnosed this far advanced the 5 year survival rate may drop as much as sixteen to twenty percent.

The median survival for women who are diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer is about eighteen months after the time it is first diagnosed. According to the American Cancer Society women who survive five years after their diagnosis of advanced breast cancer can live an additional three and a half years beyond the median survival rate.

Probably due to lack of health insurance and poverty almost five percent of caucasian women in the United States have advanced breast cancer that has spread to other tissue at the time they are first diagnosed. For black women this number is nearly doubles to nine percent that are diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.

It is important when women are diagnosed with this disease to get second and third opinions. New methods of treatment are being developed continually. Patients need to gain as much information as possible about new treatments for this disease. Stage 4 breast cancer is the most deadly class of the disease. Patients need to work closely with their health care providers for success in their treatments.

The most significant factor in breast cancer survival is having early detection. When the disease is detected while it is till limited to the breast at Stage 1 the survival chances are very high at ninety eight to one hundred percent. Survival rates drop to sixteen to twenty percent for metastasized breast cancer if it is first detected at Stage 4.

Women who are in good health beginning at the age of twenty years until forty years of age should have clinical breast exams performed once every three years by their health care providers. Regular self examinations should be done at the same time each month as an early detection practice. Breast exams should take place routinely each year after women reach forty years of age. This exam should include a mammogram or equivalent procedure.

With the amount of research being conducted into breast cancer and other cancers, much is being learned about how to prevent, treat and beat it. Usually it is too hard to determine the specific causes of individual breast cancer in individual women and men but large studies can find trends and identify risk factors.

So having certain risks factors in your lifestyle increases your chances of developing cancer and successfully beating cancer.So here are seven top risk factors for not only but other cancers and major diseases so you have a fighting chance to win any health battles:

1. Free yourself of smoking and your wallet will be heavier, your lungs lighter and your conscious easier knowing you are taking away the greatest cancer risk factor. Quitting smoking also makes a massive boost to your sex appeal because you smell, taste and look a thousand times better. The chemicals you inhale with smoke reduces the effectiveness of your immune system making it harder for your body to be healthy and strong.

2. Keep your weight to the healthy body mass index range for your height. Carrying extra weight makes the body work harder for less benefit and increases your breast cancer risk factors on a sliding scale.

3. Exercise between 1.5 - 4 hours weekly at a minimum to keep a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise really builds up your health resilience factors and gives your body a greater fighting chance to heal more quickly and fight the good fight with a healthy immune system.

4. Modify your drinking of alcohol to a maximum of two serves per day, less is better. This still fits in with the tradition of a single glass of red wine being good for the heart but lets you see the direct results of moderation while still getting to enjoy a good glass of wine or two.

5. Anti-oxidants fight the good fight and a diet high in antioxidants keeps your immune system strong and resilient. Most fresh fruit and vegetables are full of anti-oxidants but you can get dietary supplements with vitamins. Having a glass of vegetable and fruit juice each day can be a really quick and easy way to get a daily dose.

6. Stress uses up your body's reserves, depressing your immune system, using up anti oxidants, making you tired and susceptible to illness. By reducing your stress levels you reduce not only your breast cancer risk factors but many more as well.So find ways to manage your stress levels such as exercise, improving emotional intelligence skills, meditation, or where possible changing the life style issues that are causing the stress.

7. Finding peace in our daily lives can be really hard sometimes but research is showing that just 10 minutes a day of quiet time can do wonders for our entire health. Mediation can be a great way of settling the internal to do list that rattle round inside to give space for calm and peace.You can do a structured mediation, take time out to enjoy sitting still and watching the world go round, go to a yoga class; anything that gives you peace and slows things down for a time gives your internal systems, like your immune and nervous systems, a slower time to work in. This will also improve restorative sleep and let you function at a more efficient level when you need it.

Online Calculator to Test Your Breast Cancer Risk Factors

Now there is a free online resource tool to test your lifestyle choices and find out your personal breast cancer risk rate at the National Breast Cancer Centre's website at www.nbcc.org.au - an Australian health resource that is freely available to women and men all round the world.

One of the things I love about this free risk factor calculator is it lets you test the impact of changing lifestyle issues like weight, alcohol, exercise and so on so you can directly and quickly see the effect of your actions. What I really liked about the calculator was its ability to tell your body mass index (BMI) which looks at height and weight details. This free online health tool lets you test and learn what is best for you.

At present rate it is estimated that more than 40% of the population in America and industrialized world will develop some form of cancer in their life time. Cancer epidemic could swamp the health care system and cause colossal loss. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women. Every year more than 250,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Though in many cases state will fund the cost of diagnosis and detection treatment costs can quickly run up to $200,000.

Breast cancer is an ancient disease. Descriptions of it existed as early as 3000 B.C., and Spanish and Italian surgeons wrote accounts of mastectomies in the 1500s. However effective treatment of breast cancer is a modern day achievement. The first real advance occurred when a Baltimore surgeon named William Hallstead explained his ideas on how the disease progressed and proposed a new surgical treatment for it.

Better treatment over the last decade has slashed breast cancer death rates in the United States and Britain drastically. Early detection and diagnosis is the key to effective treatment. Breast cancer can be treated with easy when tumors are small at initial stages.

A woman's chances of surviving breast cancer depend on early diagnosis and treatment Today a range of treatment procedures, each with specific benefits and risks, exists for breast cancer. The choice treatment in an individual case frequently may depend on several factors, such as the different stages and kinds of breast cancer, tumor location, the patient's medical history, menopause status and age. The chemotherapy and hormone treatments commonly given after surgery to women with breast cancer are much more effective in prolonging life than previously believed.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a good time to focus on the actual, probable and possible multiple causes behind this U.S. epidemic. Given the recent uproar about the increased cost of contraceptive pills on college campuses, it makes sense to first look at possible links between The Pill and the rising rate of breast cancer in younger women in the U.S..

Fact #1: From 1979 to 1999, the rate of breast cancer for white women under 50, increased by 9.8%; the rate increase for young Black women, was even higher, at 26.4%.

Fact #2: At year-end 2003, the rate of breast cancer in older or post menopausal women dropped a huge and historic 14.7% after 90 million American women, stopped filling their HRT (hormone replacement therapy) prescriptions in 2002, when the National Women’s Health Initiative Study reported a 26% increased risk of developing breast cancer from using HRT.

Since HRT and The Pill both do their work by adding hormones to the body, it seems important to also look at possible links between breast cancer and current oral contraceptive drugs.

A team of researchers, headed by Chris Kahlenborn, a family practitioner in Harrisburg, PA, recently completed a statistical compilation of all published research, examining possible links between older generations of oral contraceptives and breast cancer in women less than 50 years old. The numbers were not good.

Published in the October 2006 Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Dr. Kahlenborn found that all women under 50, using the older generations of oral contraceptives, had a 44 % increased risk of developing breast cancer over women who did not use the Pill. This risk was even greater for women who used the Pill for at least four years prior to their first full term pregnancy. This group of mothers showed a 52% increased risk of developing breast cancer. A single study, conducted in Norway and Sweden in 1989, showed that long-time and current users of the pill, who were currently under 45, had a 144% risk of developing breast cancer, compared with similar women who had never used the Pill.

Unfortunately, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the National Cancer Institute, Susan Komen for the Cure, Avon Foundation and others, have yet to fund research or publish studies that look at possible links between Nuva Ring, Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, Yasmin or other popular current-day oral contraceptive drugs and pre-menopausal women who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

When is the last time your physician mentioned that women using oral contraceptives today are flying blind since there are no published studies on how current birth control drugs affect one’s risk of developing breast cancer? In fact, drug company brochures all cite twenty-year-old studies when discussing breast cancer risks and their current oral contraceptive drugs, thus misleading women with their corporate literature.

Why is no one publishing studies about the breast cancer risks within today's 3 billion dollar U.S. oral contraceptives market? We now have 12 million teenagers and women under 50, using the Pill, many beginning at earlier ages and many remaining on these drugs for longer-than-ever periods of time.

"While people may think of the American Cancer Society as a foremost supporter of research, in 2005 it reported spending less than 10 percent of its nearly billion dollar budget on independent scientific studies," laments Devra Davis, in her new book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer. Davis, Director of the Center For Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, describes in colorful and painful detail, how the American Cancer Society (ACS), controlled by business interests since 1945, played a leading role in blocking research and overtly misleading the public until the 1970’s on the carcinogenic effects of tobacco. Is the ACS now playing this same role with oral contraceptives?

Until we conduct and publish research that examines possible links between today's oral contraceptives and our rising rate of breast cancer in women under fifty, it might be good that the cost of the Pill just tripled on college campuses. In fact, all of a sudden, the IUD option is looking far better and safer.

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