Top 10 Breast Cancer Myths From Our Naturopathic Doctor
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Dr. Dempster is a licensed (and handsome) Naturopathic Doctor who practices in Toronto, and regularly contributes to Blisstree about health issues. Last time, the good doctor told us about his 10 food rules for treating pain – naturally. Today he’s back with the top 10 myths about breast cancer. Find The Dempster Clinic here.
With National Breast Cancer Awareness Month just a few weeks away, there’s no better time to shed some light on the #1 killer of women today: Breast cancer. Currently, a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer is a staggering 1 in 8 – and increasing every year. There’s never been a better time than now to consider what’s at the root of this debilitating and often fatal illness. Plus, there’s an increasing body of research demonstrating a link between cancer, diet, lifestyle, and environmental factors. So here are the top 10 myths about breast cancer:
1. Breast cancer isn’t preventable.
Actually, almost 98% of breast cancers are believed to be preventable by changes in diet, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Using supplements, getting safe amounts of sunshine, addressing chemicals in our households and workplaces, and managing stress are all huge factors that have been proven to play a role in breast cancer prevention – and many other forms of cancers and chronic disease. There’s an enormous amount of research demonstrating that optimizing Vitamin D levels can help prevent 77% of all cancers – including breast. And the good news is that there are many reliable, non-invasive tests to help detect some of these imbalances – all of which are offered at The Dempster Clinic.
2. The only proven treatments for breast cancer are radiation and chemotherapy.
Fact: Rates of cancer are still climbing, despite the widespread use of standard therapies. Currently, more and more research is being performed on natural cancer treatments – with promising results. Cancer needs to be addressed at the root cause in conjunction with directly killing and removing cancer cells. Naturopathic Medicine’s main tenant is “Treat the Root Cause of Illness” – thus is vitally important when addressing cancer and any other chronic diseases. This is not to say that we ignore standard therapies; they do play an important role in cancer treatment. Sadly, many allopathic practitioners often hastily push aside natural therapies that are showing promising results (claiming lack of research and interaction with standard therapies), and have been doing so for many years.
3. Chemotherapy is safe and doesn’t cause permanent damage to your health.
Actually, chemotherapy is toxic to both cancerous and healthy cells. Let me be clear – oncologists offer extremely important treatments for cancer, and are dedicating their lives to helping find a cure. I respect these individuals immensely. Unfortunately, despite all collective efforts in cancer research, we continue to lose the battle while spending billions of dollars on this cause. This year, cancer will exceed heart disease as the #1 killer. There has never been a better time for us to integrate evidence-based natural therapies with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Licensed Naturopathic Doctors have an extensive background in pharmacology, and a thorough understanding of concurrent treatment of natural therapies and pharmaceuticals. There’s an enormous potential for those going through cancer treatment to benefit from concurrent therapies that’s supervised by an integrative practitioner, such as a licensed ND.
4. Diet and lifestyle don’t play a role in preventing breast cancer.
Wrong. Current research includes large amounts of supportive evidence showing that nutrition and lifestyle play a large role in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Patients who embrace an integrative cancer program often look and feel better during standard treatments. It’s not uncommon to hear from our patients about their oncologist’s pleasant surprise as they exclaim: “Whatever you’re doing – keep doing it!” While there’s no magic-bullet cure for cancer, the best course of action (based on existing research and clinical observation) is combining both naturopathic and allopathic fields of treatment for the best care possible.
5. Regular mammograms are the best way to detect breast cancer.
Not necessarily. Current research shows alarming evidence that regular use of mammograms may harm more women than than help – due to the compression of sensitive breast tissue and exposure to harmful x-rays. This news is disturbing: A groundbreaking study by researchers from the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Denmark found that mammograms may harm ten times as many women as they help. This isn’t to say that mammograms have no use or role in cancer prevention or diagnostic strategies. However, doctors in Europe have been investigating less invasive methods of breast cancer screening such as thermography. This safe and non-invasive approach is becoming more widely accepted in North America as a primary annual breast cancer screening tool, because it can detect hot spots in breast tissue.
6. BRCA-positive women should consider mastectomies to prevent cancer.
Fact: This treatment is as invasive as it comes, and is not intelligent medicine. With the research existing today on the role that triggers including stress, excess alcohol/tobacco, hormonal replacement therapy, and environmental chemicals play in getting cancer, this is where we need to focus on a prevention strategy. Smart medicine includes looking at the whole person, addressing known environmental and genetic factors, and customizing a plan accordingly. Licensed ND’s are experts in this approach.
7. Hormones are not involved with breast cancer.
Post from: BlissTree
Top 10 Breast Cancer Myths From Our Naturopathic Doctor
