Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND
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 An experienced physician can make an educated guess by examining the breasts manually, but physical examination does not always reveal whether a growth is cancerous or benign. A mammogram and/or a biopsy may be required for a firm diagnosis.
CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT
¦ For minor, intermittent pain, your doctor is likely to recommend a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as aspirin (Bayer, Ecotrin, and others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, Nuprin, and others), ketoprofen (Orudis, Oruvail), or naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprelan, Naprosyn). |
Arthur C. Upton, M.D.
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| A mammogram delivering 0.2 rad given to 100,000 women at age forty-five might lead to the loss of about one life from radiation-induced cancer, but between twenty and fifty lives would be saved in this group from early detection of breast cancer.
The number of mammography units in the United States increased from 184 in 1982 to 10,000 in 1990, not all of which operate at the lowest possible dose or are of optimal quality. According to an inspection program conducted by the FDA in 1985, 36 percent of units produced "substandard" images. This figure improved to 13 percent by 1988. |
| After age forty, annual mammograms are recommended. Her risk of breast cancer is also an additional reason for her to avoid a diet high in fats.
• Attend public hearings on the waste transfer depot, and form and voice an opinion. If she feels strongly that the waste depot poses a health hazard to the community, take action (e.g., sign petitions that urge the county not to allow the transfer station.)
Components of Self-Assessment
The types of factors used to assess our major health risks fall into three major categories. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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 According to a study of 8,800 postmenopausal women, aged 50 and older, the use of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) leads to a 71 % increased likelihood of receiving a false-positive result on mammogram screening. Mary B. Laya, M.D., M.P.H., study leader at the University of Washington at Seattle, who published the results in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1996, also found that women on ERT were more likely to get false-negative readings.
Mammography may also fail to detect advanced tumors measuring less than two centimeters in diameter. |
Gary Null, Ph.D.
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 It may take twenty years for a person to develop enough tumor cells to show up on an X ray or mammogram. At the time of the diagnosis, then, you're at the end stage of a healing crisis, not the beginning. Your arteries could be 90 percent occluded before you have symptoms of angina or some other condition. It might take forty years for an occlusion to get that bad. You're told it was caught early, when, in actuality, you got it at the end. So we've got another 100 million people walking around who are processing disease that is not yet diagnosed. |
The Editors of Prevention Magazine Health Books
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 It was an order for a mammogram, and though I couldn't make out the whole word, I could clearly read 'cyst.' I was sure I had cancer.
"When I finally got the courage to ask the doctor what was wrong, he said that I had fibrocystic breast disease and that there was nothing I could do about it except become very familiar with my breasts, so I would know if I found anything new. He told me not to worry, but 1 couldn't help but wonder if this 'disease' meant that cancer was next.
"Ten years and many lumps later, I finally understand what I have and that it's not a disease. |
Dr. Gary Null
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 In the 1970s, radiologists were giving 2, 5 and 10 rads per mammogram. When they were told that this would cause more cancers than it helped cure, they went to work and got the dose down to 3/10 of a rad or less. That is a twenty- to fifty-fold reduction in dose. Getting the dose down further should be a major national priority. If we do that, we are going to bring about the single most significant reduction in cancer incidence in this country. That's real prevention."
HIGH-FAT DIET. Earlier, Dr. Schachter gave one explanation why fat can cause breast cancer. Here, Dr. |
| She found a lump on her breast and went to the doctor. Her mammogram was negative but they did a biopsy anyway and found that it was cancerous. Three days later, she had her breast lopped off. That was followed up with lots of chemotherapy. Her hair fell out and she vomited twenty-four hours a day. She couldn't keep any food down. Then they did radiation and her skin burnt up and two of her ribs broke. Most people don't know how dangerous radiation is. I had seen enough. I wouldn't touch any of that medicine with a ten-foot pole. |
| One woman changed her mammogram results in only ten days from the time she told them to clear, and she was high-risk. Another woman dissolved a lump in only two weeks. Once you have the information, it's easier to utilize than if you have to look here and there and try to piece it together like I did. |
Francisco, M.D. Contreras
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| As recently as 1994, the New England Journal of Medicine informed us that radiologists are mistaken in a "disturbingly high" number of mammogram cases.Due to the popularization of studies without x-ray, like ultra sound and magnetic resonance, x-ray laboratories have changed their designation from x-ray department to imaging centers because there they interpret images created by all these apparatuses. I would say that it is because they "imagine" what they interpret. The number of radiological studies is overwhelming. |
Barnet Meltzer, M.D.
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 She was struggling to hold on, but in the last year her mammogram revealed an abnormal lump, her PMS symptoms were worse than ever, and her family doctor had diagnosed her with sciatica (nerve pain in the back, hips, buttocks, and thighs). At the time of our appointment, she was recovering from a second bout of bronchitis.
Jennifer's eating habits revealed the root of her health problems. She admitted she had a set routine, so it wasn't hard to evaluate. At the end of her work day, she'd pick up her daughter from school and head home. |
Dr. Vern Cherewatenko and Paul Perry
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 Varioius cancer screening tests may also be recommended based on your age and gender, like a mammogram for women and a sigmoidoscopy or hemoccult testing to look for colon cancer for both sexes.
The clinical examination and the history are added to a comprehensive evaluation of blood tests that are performed by a laboratory. Basic blood and urine testing will look at over fifty values of different things occurring in your body, including:
• Fasting plasma glucose levels.
• Total cholesterol.
• HDL (good) cholesterol.
• LDL (bad) cholesterol.
• Triglycerides. |
Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D.
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 The association between long-term ERT and breast cancer has never been proved to my satisfaction, but to be on the safe side, I advise women who take it to examine their own breasts once a month, have their doctor do it every six months, and get a mammogram every year.
Does calcium after menopause help prevent osteoporosis? Many women don't pay attention to their calcium intake before menopause and assume that it's how much they eat after their periods have ended that's important. Wrong! You should have been getting lots of calcium right along, beginning in childhood. |
E. D. Hirsch
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 Inadequate nutrition caused by the lack of a balanced diet or by disorders of the digestive system in which the nutrients from food cannot be absorbed properly. mammogram (MAM-uh-gram) An x-ray of the breast, produced by mammography, that is used in screening for breast cancer. mammography (mam-OG-ruh-fee) Examination of the breasts using x-rays. Mammography is useful in locating tumors of the breast that are too small to be detected by other means. marrow The soft, specialized connective tissue that fills the cavities of bones. |
Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D.
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| Atypical cells" in the screening biopsy are not often harbingers of malignancy, but if that's what the report reads, you should be reexamined by your doctor every four months, and have a mammogram at least once a year. Don't hide your anxiety. Discuss the implications of your breast findings with your doctor, and be sure you understand them.
If you have painful, lumpy breasts, remember that the best time to do your monthly breast exam is right after your period, when your breasts are likely to be the least lumpy. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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| During a mammogram, considerable pressure must be placed on the woman's breast, as the breast is squeezed between two flat plastic surfaces. According to some health practitioners, this compression could cause existing cancer cells to metastasize from the breast tissue.
High Rate of False Positives—Mammography's high rate of false-positive test results wastes money and creates unnecessary emotional trauma. A Swedish study of 60,000 women, aged 40-64, who were screened for breast cancer revealed that of the 726 actually referred to oncologists for treatment, 70% were found to be cancer free. |
Zorba Paster, M.D. and Susan Meltsner
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 Finally, a mammogram is appropriate at any age if a lump has been detected.
24. Screen for Skin Cancer Impact ? ???
In terms of sheer number of cases, skin cancer is by far the most prevalent cancer in this country. More than one million people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year. But most aren't very dangerous. Basal cell cancer, which accounts for 75 percent of all cases, grows slowly and usually does not spread to distant parts of the body. |
| I also recommend them annually for women over seventy, even though early detection isn't as important for the slow-growing form of breast cancer they tend to get. One mammogram should probably be taken at age forty to establish a baseline, but how often women should have them after that is debatable. Some authorities favor annual screening. Others feel there's not enough evidence to support screening at all before fifty. Still others believe that every two years is sufficient. I lean toward having individual women and their doctors go over the pros and cons and make their own decisions. |
| Atikah got her mammogram, which didn't have a single suspicious speck on it, and the reassurance she needed to get on with her life.
Screening by Self-exam
On the frontline of prevention is the practice of examining your own breasts for lumps on a monthly basis.Volunteers from your local branch of the American Cancer Society can show you the best way to do this. Or hop on the World Wide Web to find illustrated instructions; www.cancer.org is a good place to start. If you should feel a lump or mass or anything out of the ordinary, take action immediately. |
Jean Carper
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 By December the cancer had disappeared from the mammogram; there were no traces of a mass or any signs of microcalcifications on the X-ray. The cancer was in complete regressiongone! Dr. Lockwood, who has treated more than 200 cases of breast cancer per year for thirty-five years, said he had never before witnessed a spontaneous complete regression of a breast tumor measuring as much as 1.5 to 2 centimeters. Further, he had never seen a comparable regression from any conventional antitumor therapy.
Deadly Cancer Gone In September 1992 a forty-four-year-old woman patient of Dr. |
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
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 Thus, a premenopausal woman given one mammogram annually, for 10 years, with a conservative estimated dose of two rads per exposure, would be at a 20 percent excess risk. A confidential memo by a senior NCI physician in charge of the screening program83 may explain why, in spite of warnings by the National Academy of Sciences in 1972 and by the NCI's own key scientific staff,84 women were not warned of this risk. |
Dr. Gary Null
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| Robert Atkins, a well-known advocate of holistic medicine: "Women develop a lump in their breast and appropriately have a mammogram or biopsy which leads to the diagnosis. At this point the trouble begins. The doctor gives the patient two choices: a mastectomy or a lumpectomy with radiation. A paper just published on this reported a third option that was every bit as good regarding survival rate and life expectancy. That was simply to do a lumpectomy without the radiation."
Dr. |
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
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| U.S. women age 40-50 — which is more than the budgets of the National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society combined.
While the benefits of postmenopausal screening are less controversial, there is little evidence that the usual U.S. overkill of taking four or more mammograms per breast annually is any more effective than the more restrained European practice of a single view every two to three years. |
Zorba Paster, M.D. and Susan Meltsner
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| All things considered, it was a miracle she made it in for her mammogram, and a good thing too, since her cancer was still in the very early stages and her breast could be spared. But did stress cause that cancer? I told her that from a purely scientific point of view, I didn't think so, that there were many studies that showed stress does not cause cancer. Looking at all the demands in her life, the more important question seemed to be what role stress would play in her recovery. There was evidence that women with breast cancer live longer when they have less stress. |
Rhonda D. Orin
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 WISCONSIN
Two mammogram exams between ages 40-49, and annually for women age 50 and older (Sec. 632.895(8)).
Treatment of mental and nervous disorders with at least specified minimum benefits (Sec. 632.89).
Breast reconstruction of the affected tissue, following mastectomy (Sec. 632.895(13)).
Treatment of alcoholism and other drug abuse problems to at least specified minimums (Sec. 632.89).
Treatment of TMJ disorders (Sec. 632.895(11)).
Inpatient and outpatient treatment of kidney disease, at least to specified minimums (Sec. 632.895(4)). |
Gary Null
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 Robert Atkins, a well-known advocate of holistic medicine: "Women develop a lump in their breast and appropriately have a mammogram or biopsy which leads to the diagnosis. At this point the trouble begins. The doctor gives the patient two choices: a mastectomy or a lumpectomy with radiation. A paper... on this reported a third option that was every bit as good regarding survival rate and life expectancy. That was simply to do a lumpectomy without the radiation."
Dr. |
| She found a lump on her breast and went to the doctor. Her mammogram was negative but they did a biopsy anyway and found that it was cancerous. Three days later, she had her breast lopped off. That was followed up with lots of chemotherapy. Her hair fell out and she vomited 24 hours a day. She couldn't keep any food down. Then they did radiation and her skin burnt up and two of her ribs broke. Most people don't know how dangerous radiation is. I had seen enough. I wouldn't touch any of that medicine with a 10-foot pole. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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| However, it is known that 75% of patients survive breast cancer, and most breast cancers are present for 8-10 years before they can be detected as a lump or on a mammogram, according to Susan M. Love, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of California at Los Angeles. "The problem of the prevention and treatment of breast cancer is the fact that 80% of women who get breast cancer don't have [the traditional] risk factors," says Dr. Love. "A low-fat diet may be preventative, but we won't have the results from studies for five to ten years. |
Sheldon P. Blau, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.R. and Elaine Fantle Shimberg
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 Many people in the cemetery today are there because they were denied a follow-up mammogram, state-of-the-art cancer treatment, specific medications or procedures, or even hospitalization. To paraphrase Hillel, "If you are not for yourself, who will be?" Certainly not your HMO.
REMEMBER DAVID AND GOLIATH
It may seem an overwhelming task—taking on the giant health insurance industry. But remember the story of David and Goliath. The little guy can overcome by using his (or her) wits. Let your slingshot be knowledge and the stone, your assertiveness. |
Ralph Moss, PhD
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 By the next month, her doctors wrote, the tumor was no longer palpable and in the following month, a mammogram confirmed the disappearance of her tumor.
After that, another woman in the group also increased her dose, this time to 300 milUgrams. Her tumor also soon disappeared and a clinical examination revealed no evidence of the prior residual tumor, nor of distant metastases. The patient was in excellent clinical condition and there was no residual cancer. |
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