Prevention Of Breast Tumors & Cancer

There's a medical term 'Benign Breast Disease' (BBD) which includes a host of breast problems
for women. This category includes any type of abnormal breast tissue other than malignant. One
condition includes breast tumors which are benign yet have from the normal breast tissue
consistency.

There are a number of cystic conditions 'lumped' under the heading of fibrocystic breast disease.
Symptoms may include pain known as mastalgia, heat, swelling and obvious tenderness. Pain
and changes in breast tissue can be cyclical within the menstrual cycle, often triggered by low
progesterone and high estrogens.

Recently there's been more attention given to BBD being a risk factor for developing Breast
Cancer (BC) and rightly so. Several causes of BBD are the same causes or risk factors for BC.

In several upcoming articles I'll review the medical research from around the world. I spent
almost 2 years writing two books, one on the optimization of thyroid hormones and the other on
the autoimmune condition Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and was amazed to find hundreds of articles
on this subject of risk factors.

Here is an example of just one of them. The Lancet published an epidemiological study in 1975
which exposed a lower incidence of Breast Cancer in Japanese women compared with women
from other parts of the world. The only variable the researchers could find was their higher
intake of seafood and sea vegetables rich in iodine. There was a lot of speculation why this might
be but it's really only been over the last 35 years that we have a clearer understanding as to why.

I hesitate to start with the subject of iodine because it is one thing to take a food rich in iodine
and quite another to take an iodine supplement. There is danger in this.

So I'll wait a little and mention two other studies which I believe are very important. They are
both similar and prove much the same point. One was out of Pisa, Italy, in 2008. They took 103
women with biopsied ductal cell breast carcinoma and before any intervention or treatment the
women were checked for thyroid problems. They were evaluated through thyroid lab tests,
physical exams and a thyroid ultrasound.

It turned out that 48% of them had various types of thyroid problems. The most prevalent was an
enlarged thyroid gland termed a goiter. The most common cause of a goiter is an iodine
deficiency or insufficiency. The less common cause is excess estrogen which blocks absorption
of iodide into thyroid cells.

The second thyroid condition found was Hashimoto's which is inflammation of the thyroid
gland. There are a few theories about the cause of Hashimoto's but the one which is most
outstanding is the inflammation of thyroid cells being caused by an increased production of
hydrogen peroxide inside the cells. This increased production is due to the hormone TSH or
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone which, among other things, stimulates thyroid cells to make more
hydrogen peroxide, a process required to convert iodide to iodine. This is necessary for the
thyroid to make its hormones.
Prevention Of Breast Tumors & Cancer
Normally once thyroid hormones are produced and enter the blood stream then TSH production
will subside and so will the production of hydrogen peroxide inside the thyroid cells. But if
there's an iodide deficiency and the thyroid can't make its hormones then TSH will remain
elevated and continue to stimulate the cells to make more and more hydrogen peroxide.

These elevated levels of hydrogen peroxide lasting for years and decades eventually leads to
irritation, inflammation and finally some degree of destruction. And as soon as the thyroid cells
break apart and release hydrogen peroxide, enzymes and proteins you've got the makings for a
thyroid autoimmune disease.

So what's all this got to do with breast cancer and benign breast tumors?

Obviously the lack of iodide leads to various thyroid conditions including hypothyroidism since
obviously the thyroid requires specific nutrients including iodide to make its hormones. No
iodide no thyroid hormone production.

And so often where there's a lack of iodide there's a lack of iodine. Iodine has been proven to
protect breast tissue from estrogens, estrogen mimicking chemicals, what are called Endocrine
Distrupting Chemical and heavy metals.

Optimal thyroid hormones help to improve sex hormone binding globulin which lowers free
estrogens, improves levels of progesterone (low progesterone is a risk factor) and helps to
optimize the body's metabolic rate. A lower metabolic rate causes easier weight gain and the
primary source of non-glandular estrogen is fat. Even this form of estrogen stimulates estrogen
receptors on breast tissue.

More on these subjects in future articles.

So until then, this is Dr. Alexander Haskell

http://advancingbreastcare.com/