Breast Cancer and Bra Wearing: Possibly Linked

This is one line of thought bra-burning women libbers would love to endorse.

In 1995, a book - Dressed To Kill (Avery Press, revised edition 2001) by authors Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer (a husband-and-wife team) had come out with claims that wearing a bra throughout the day increased woman’s risk of breast cancer by 125 times.

The authors claim to have discovered a possible trigger for breast cancer in interviews of 4,730 women in five major US cities, conducted between 1991 and 1993.

Their books list the following findings:

* Women who wore their bras for 24 hours per day had a 3 out of 4 chance of developing breast cancer (their study included 2056 subjects for the cancer group and 2674 for the standard group).

* Women who wore bras more than 12 hour per day but not to bed had a 1 out of 7 risk.

* Women who wore their bras less than 12 hours per day had a 1 out of 152 risk.

* Women who wore bras rarely or never had a 1 out of 168 chance of getting breast cancer.

According to the World Health Organization, chemical toxins are the primary cause of cancer.

Poisons accumulating in breast tissue are normally flushed by clear lymph fluid into large clusters of lymph nodes nestling in the armpits and upper chest. Because lymphatic vessels are very thin, they are extremely sensitive to pressure and are easily compressed. Chronic minimal pressure, such as tight bra straps or bands, on the breasts can cause lymph valves and vessels to close.

A look at the breast cancer rate in countries where bra wearing is not the norm shows a very low incidence of breast cancer. Japanese women living in Japan, where bra-wearing is uncommon, have a very low incidence of breast cancer; however in second generation Japanese-American women, the breast cancer rate sky-rockets to match that of the Western world.

Highly respected studies, including one at Harvard, published in 1991 ,have shown that women who wear bras for extended periods are at much higher risk of developing breast cancer than those who do not (60 percent lesser chance).

There is strong evidence that this is as a result of impaired lymphatic flow. Wearing a bra, especially a constricting one with underwires and/or tight straps, and especially to bed, prevents normal lymphatic flow and would likely lead to anoxia (lower than normal oxygen content), which has been related to fibrosis, which has been linked to increased cancer risk.

The logical conclusion is that bras should be used as little as possible, if at all.

Researchers say that women evolved under conditions where there was breast movement with every step that they took when they walked or ran.

Scientific literature about lymphatic flow indicates that this may be as important as the constriction factor. Every subtle bounce of the breast while moving, walking, running, etc. gently massages the breast and increases lymphatic flow and thus cleans the breast of toxins and wastes that arise from cellular metabolism.

If you are a woman, next time think twice, before you splurge on that fashionable tight bras, or corsets for that matter, which models and celebrities endorse.

Source-Medindia
ANN/L