Breast Cancer - What are the Signs

Breast Cancer in women is second only to lung cancer deaths and a woman in the United States has a 1 in 8 chance of having breast cancer in her lifetime. That's a startling 13 percent chance that any woman in the U.S. will get breast cancer during her life.

Breast Examination is vital to a woman's health and personal care. There are a number of things you should be aware of when doing a self-examination; obviously any lump or change in the shape of your breast is reason to have further testing performed. If the breast develops dimpling or the nipple area begins to invert itself, or lumps in the underarm area are also symptoms to have checked by your physician.

Most importantly, it is imperative you know that there really are no definite signs of breast cancer, so get tested regularly!

Having a mammogram is not the most comfortable test to have performed, but the opportunity to live a long and healthy life by getting early detection is worth the short-term discomfort. Recently, there have been new breast examination techniques made available whereby the mammogram procedure may be avoided. The age of medicine is always improving and progressing in our abilities to learn more with less personal invasion. This is even more of a reason not to make excuses not to be checked regularly.

As a woman ages her chances of contracting breast cancer increases dramatically. At age 30 the chances are 1 in 2212, and by age 40, the odds greatly increase to 1 in 235. By age 60, the odds are 1 in 23, so if nothing else prompts you to perform constant monthly self-examinations and yearly office exams with your doctor.

Breast cancer respects no one, and there is no assurance that if your family genealogy does not have a history of breast cancer, you won't contract breast cancer. Don't find reasons not to find out about your current health stats. The procedures are covered under wellness provisions in most insurance policies, so again, get tested regularly.

In our age of breast enlargement and plastic surgery, breast cancer examinations at home may be more difficult to detect changes in the breast, so if you have breast implants, please have yourself check with your doctor on a regimented schedule. It's better to protect your investment for the long term if for no other reason. Hopefully you are not the assuming type, whereby you don't feel pain or observe any changes therefore all is well. Breast cancer does not necessarily show any symptoms, but the office tests rarely miss any stages of breast cancer. Should your doctor find any cancer, the earlier the better and with minimal physical changes in your appearance. Just be safe and not sorry for assuming all is okay.

To learn more about breast cancer and other cancers that you can be tested for, take a look at this site for more detailed symptoms, changes, and hidden clues only you would notice;

http://wealthsmith.com/breast-lung-prostate-cancer.htm

Jim is an online write and entrepreneur who delves into topics of high reader interest and his insights and directions on what he has deiscovered is worth the time invested in his articles. Today, he has found that breast cancer awareness is still lacking in it's application and adhering to the testing.

http://wealthsmith.com/breast-lung-prostate-cancer.htm

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American Breast Cancer Rates Decline With Few Women Taking HRT

The rate of people affected by breast cancer in the United States fell 7 percent in 2003, a year after millions of women halted hormone replacement therapy, a study has revealed.

The decline was even more noticeable in older women who are more sensitive to estrogen, according to the analysis of National Cancer Institute data presented yesterday at a symposium in San Antonio. The decline in women between 50 and 69 years of age fell a remarkable 12 percent.

The research, conducted at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, discovered that 14,000 fewer women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 than in 2002, when an estimated 203,500 cases were reported. Researchers link the decline in cases to the mass halt on hormone replacement therapy after a study proved that the added estrogen increased the risk of developing breast cancer.

“Something went right in 2003, and it seems that it was the decrease in the use of hormone therapy,” said Peter Ravdin, a professor at M.D. Anderson and the study’s co-author. He went on to caution that researchers are not able to prove a direct cause- and-effect relationship at this time.

In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative study involving 16,608 women using hormone replacement therapy was ended abruptly after higher rates of breast cancer were noted. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among American women.

In September, a study was published claiming the drop in breast cancer in 2003 was linked directly to the decline in the use of Premarin, an estrogen replacement product made by Wyeth and once the most prescribed U.S. pharmaceutical product.

“Breast cancer is a complex disease and the causes are not known,” said Candace Steele on behalf of Wyeth, in an e- mailed statement. “It is simply inappropriate to make any speculative statements based on the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center analysis. Even the researchers state they cannot give the definitive cause. Clearly more studies are warranted.”

The rate of breast cancer diagnoses increased steadily at 1.7 percent annually from 1990 to 98, before decreasing slightly, 1 percent a year from 1998 to 2002, the study determined. By the end of 2003, the rate had dropped 7 percent when age adjustments were made.

“We’re seeing this turnaround in breast cancer diagnoses; the question is why,” commented Brenda Edwards, associate director of the surveillance research program at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. “There are many factors that could be out there, including screening rates.”

Edwards also noted that Mammography rates are leveling off, which may be suppressing the rates of diagnosis without reducing the actual rate of the disease. For now though, researchers can point to what seems to be a link between the decline of cases and the abandonment of hormone replacement therapy, she added.

“We can’t show cause,” she said. “We’re just saying these two things seem to be occurring at a similar time.”

She continued that it will take years of additional research to determine the real cause, but added that researchers are currently working on 2004 statistics to see if the decline will continue or stabilize.
The study was funded solely by the National Cancer Institute and M.D. Anderson.

For more Health News and other Breaking News, visit http://www.ecanadanow.com

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Green Tea or Black for Preventing Breast Cancer?

In recent years there has been an abundance of research investigating the benefits of green and black tea on preventing disease. And, the results have been divided. Depending on the health condition being evaluated, some studies have shown green tea to be more effective, while others have shown green and black tea to be equally effective.

Green tea differs from black in its processing. Both come from the Camellia sinensis plant, but black tea is fermented when processed. This fermentation changes some of the tea plant’s compounds, and effectively reduces some of the most important anti-oxidants, namely EGCG, one of the most important anti-oxidants you can consume. However, black tea does still contain many other important anti-oxidants.

When it comes to preventing many forms of disease, EGCG seems to be an important component, making green tea the drink of choice. In addition, the reason tea came into focus in the first place was the noticeably lower rates of disease in Asian countries, where tea is consumed in large quantities - most of it green tea.

One of the diseases that tea is reported to prevent is breast cancer. Several studies have shown that tea, green in particular, seems to significantly lower your chances of developing breast cancer. Some studies have even suggested that green tea could even be an effective treatment for breast cancer.

One study conducted on breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy noted that those participants who regularly consumed green tea during their chemotherapy treatments showed higher concentrations of the chemotherapy drugs in their cancer cells than those who did not consume green tea.

Other studies have indicated that green tea can inhibit the growth of cancer cells, possibly preventing the spread of the disease. And, additional studies have shown that green tea may prevent the recurrence of breast cancer in patients diagnosed at Stage I or II of the disease.

But, what about black tea? Why have similar results not been shown with the consumption of green tea? The theory is that it has to do with hormones.

Green tea is thought to reduce certain circulating sex-steroid hormones, such as estone and estradiol, and that black tea may increase the levels of these hormones. If the reduction in breast cancer risk is due to the lower level of these sex-steroid hormones, then it’s easy to see why green tea is more effective at preventing breast cancer than black tea.

One study in Singapore evaluated a cross section of 130 healthy post-menopausal Chinese women. Their tea consumption broke down like this:

• 84 were non or irregular tea drinkers – meaning they drank tea less than once a week.

• 27 were regular green tea drinkers – meaning they drank green tea weekly or daily

• 19 were regular black tea drinkers

The study concluded that, relative to the estrone levels in the non tea drinkers, the green tea drinkers showed a lower estrone level, and the black tea drinkers showed a higher estrone level. In fact, the green tea drinkers showed a 13% lower estrone level, and the black tea drinkers showed a 19% higher level of estrone than those who did not drink tea. A similar relationship was found between tea drinking habits and estradiol levels.

While this study alone cannot be considered conclusive, it does suggest that, if high levels of circulating sex steroids increase the risk of breast cancer, green tea is a much better preventative than black tea.

Most researchers agree that having high levels of circulating hormones like estrogen (which is made up of estradiol and estrone) after menopause does increase your risk of breast cancer. This is why women who take hormone supplements to help ease the symptoms of menopause have an increased risk of developing cancer over women who do not treat their menopausal symptoms with hormones like estrogen therapy.

So, if you’ve experienced menopause and you’re at an increased risk for breast cancer, talk to your doctor about tea drinking. Particularly if you drink large quantities of black tea, it might be wise to reduce this amount, and replace it with green tea.

It’s clear that we don’t fully understand the relationship between tea and breast cancer, and that much more research should be performed. However, we do have a pretty clear picture that green tea prevents many forms of cancer, breast cancer among them.

So, it’s probably a good idea to keep drinking your green tea. While it’s true that we don’t have all the answers, it does seem clear that green tea offers many health benefits and that drinking it is a healthy habit that all of us should get into.

Green tea is delicious, refreshing and widely available. All of these attributes make green tea a simple way to improve our health and reduce the risk of certain diseases. So, make a cup of green tea, and drink to your health!

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea, white tea, black tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea) and chai. Visit goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.

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Reducing Your Breast Cancer Risk With Green Tea

This year, 40,000 women will die from breast cancer, and over 200,000 will be diagnosed with the disease. Researchers are hard at work to determine ways to prevent breast cancer, helping women learn how to protect themselves from this frightening disease.

As it stands today, about 13% of American women will develop breast cancer at some point during their lifetime. A better understanding of the causes of breast cancer and ways to prevent it can help us reduce that number in our lifetime.

We know that a healthy diet and exercise are important to preventing breast and other cancers. In particular, a diet rich in anti-oxidants can help the body age gracefully and avoid diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Anti-oxidants are important because they fight free radicals created in the body as it converts food to energy. These free radicals can cause disease and aging over time. Anti-oxidants and their ability to check free radicals help to keep our bodies young and healthy.

Fruits and vegetables are among the best sources of anti-oxidants. In particular, vegetables such as artichokes, tomatoes, and asparagus along with fruits like blueberries and pomegranates can help reduce your chances of disease and keep you young.

Another significant source of anti-oxidants is green tea. Green tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, as does all true tea. Green tea is higher in anti-oxidants than black tea because it is not fermented during processing. The lack of fermentation leaves the tea plant’s anti-oxidants in their most natural and protective state, making it one of the most protective substances you can consume.

Scientists have spent years researching the potential of green tea, particularly its ability to prevent, and even treat cancers, including breast cancer. They have learned that green tea offers much potential in prevention of breast cancer.

One study in particular looked at women in Singapore who had a higher than average risk of breast cancer. This study, reported by the UK Tea Council, studied women who had a high level of angiotensin II activity. Angiotensin is an ogliopeptide in the blood that causes blood vessels to constrict, causing high blood pressure. It also releases aldosterone from the adrenal cortex. Aldosterone is a hormone that regulates potassium and sodium in the blood.

Women who have low angiotensin II activity seem to be at a lower risk for breast cancer. Therefore, researchers theorized that women with high angiotensin II activity would be more susceptible to the protective effects of green tea.

So, in this study, researchers looked at 297 women with breast cancer and just over 600 control subjects. The study concluded that among the women with high angiotensin II activity, green tea was able to significantly lower the risk of breast cancer. The green tea did not appear to have a protective effect on the women with lower than average angiotensin II activity.*

This study didn’t show that it was necessary to consume green tea in large quantities in order to see benefit. The study concluded that women who drank green tea weekly were at a lower risk than those who drank it only monthly or not at all.

This conclusion is on target with other research that has shown that drugs which inhibit angiotensin activity (drugs to treat high blood pressure) reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer over those women whose blood pressure goes untreated. It seems that keeping angiotensin II at bay is effective at reducing blood pressure problems and lowering breast cancer risk at the same time.

This is promising news for those who may be at a higher uncontrollable risk of breast cancer. Angiotensin activity, like some other risk factors for breast cancer, such as family history, cannot be controlled or moderated. But, if green tea can lessen the impact of angiotensin II activity, this may minimize the risk of breast cancer for a large group of higher risk women.

We all know that it’s important for each of us to take an active role in protecting our health. And, as more research is performed, it becomes more evident that drinking green tea is an especially simple and effective way to do so.

Adding green tea to your daily life is simple and delicious. Green tea is available loose, in bottles and in tea bags. You can make your own cup of hot tea to warm up a cold night, keep a pitcher of iced green tea in the refrigerator, or grab a bottled green tea on the way to your workout.

You can find green tea flavored with many different fruit flavors to suit any palate. And, if that still doesn’t get you enough green tea to help your health, there are green tea supplements, too. Simply pop a green tea supplement with your vitamins each day to help get an extra dose. Keep in mind that it appears that even drinking moderate amounts of green tea can help protect your health.

So, grab a cup of green tea. You’re certain to enjoy it, and you may be protecting your health, too!

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current tea offerings, including their exceptional green tea, white tea, black tea, oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea) and chai. Visit goldenmoontea.com for all details concerning the Golden Moon Tea Company's fine line of teas.

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