5 Best Habits for Breast Cancer Prevention

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many of our patients have been asking about early detection and prevention. While early detection is important, ideally, we all want to stop the cancer from ever starting in the first place. A great resource of information for breast cancer prevention is Keeping Abreast: Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer by Khalid Mahmud.

To give you a sneak peak of some of the valuable information you can find in this book, we put together a “5 best habits” list of the many recommendations given by Dr. Mahmud for breast cancer prevention. The best part is you can implement them TODAY!

• Stay Active:  Regular exercise has been shown to reduce risk of breast cancer up to 25%!

• Cruciferous Vegetables: Add broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, & cauliflower to your daily diet.

• Fiber: A diet rich in high fiber foods is important. In addition to eating the high fiber cruciferous veggies, get in the habit of adding some berries or flaxseeds to your oatmeal, bran flakes, or salad.

• Skip the sweets: Avoid sugar and refined (white) starches.

• Extra Support: Supplement with Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, & Green Tea Extract.

Early Detection
In light of the recent change in guidelines set forth by the American Cancer Society in 2015 to cut back on mammogram screenings, many women are wondering what alternatives there are to mammograms.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society now recommends that women with “average risk” of breast cancer begin yearly mammography screenings at age 45, rather than the previous recommendation of 40. In addition, the ACS is recommending that women over age 55 transition to every other year screenings instead of annual exams.

Breast Thermography is a safe method for early detection of physiological changes that accompany breast pathology associated with cancer. We are currently researching Thermography Clinics to recommend to our patients. Some of our patients have gone ahead and found a local facility to get an appointment scheduled.

Hormones
In addition to the “5 Best Habits for Breast Cancer Prevention”, research shows that hormone balance plays a very important role in preventing breast cancer. Progesterone is especially important, and natural progesterone has been shown to be breast protective (in addition to brain and bone protection as well). A majority of women are what we call “estrogen dominant” and need MORE progesterone to balance.

Wondering about your hormones? Give us a call today to make an appointment!

Lindsey Szczepanski, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner