The last thing a woman needs in her life is more guilt, especially when either facing a breast cancer diagnosis or simply getting a breast cancer screening. In the world of information overload it’s easy to overthink things and begin to wonder if there is something you could be doing or could have done differently in regards to breast cancer prevention. So, let’s chat about a few breast cancer rumors out there.
Popular myths about what causes breast cancer
Antiperspirant– There was one laboratory that showed findings of aluminum in breast cancer tissue. What they didn’t bother to compare were the levels of aluminum in healthy breast tissue to see if there were increased levels in cancerous breast tissue versus normal breast tissue. Any scientist worth their weight in gold knows there must be comparisons done before stating that something is the cause of cancer.
Wearing a bra– There are claims that bras cut off circulation of blood and lymphatic fluid to the breasts which causes cancer. They stated that women who don’t wear bras have less chance of a breast cancer diagnosis. If this were true, what about corsets, spandex pants and ankle braces causing cancer?
Mammograms– The claim is that radiation emitted by mammography causes cancer and the mechanical ‘smashing’ causes tumors to spread. In truth, there is less radiation emitted in a mammogram than a chest x-ray which most of us wouldn’t think twice about if we had pneumonia.
Facts about breast cancer
Here’s the thing, there is a correlation between breast cancer and antiperspirant because a lot of women wear antiperspirant. There is a correlation between breast cancer and wearing a bra because a lot of women wear bras. The same goes for mammograms. Stating that these things cause cancer is similar to the myth that eating ice cream and swimming at the pool cause Polio (there really were studies linking Polio to ice cream consumption and swimming!)
If you’d like more information or to talk with a doctor for your next screening, contact The Woman’s Clinic today.
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