Breast cancer is up 60 percent from a generation ago.

There are many factors involved in breast cancer and it is difficult to say why some women with few risk factors get it, while others with several risk factors do not.

In any case, it makes sense to minimise or avoid the risk factors which have been identified.

By avoiding these risks, you are not only helping to protect yourself from breast cancer but also live a healthier life.

Maintain a healthy weight.

Postmenopausal, overweight women have the highest risk, with 75 percent of all cases occurring in women over 40.

Being above your recommended weight increases your risk because fat cells store environmental estrogens, pesticides and other cancer causing toxins.

Limit your exposure to environmental estrogens.

According to Dr. Linda Page, author of Healthy Healing, one of the biggest health threats facing women today is the excess oestrogen assault from our environment.

"Man-made estrogens are in pollutants, hormone-injected meats and dairy products, plastics, pesticides and drugs," explains Dr. Page.

Many pesticides act as oestrogen in the body.

One study showed 50 to 60 percent more pesticides (PCB's and DDE's) in women who have breast cancer than in those who do not.

According to Dr. Page, until about 20 years ago breast cancer rates and contamination levels of organochlorine pesticides in Israel were among the highest in the world.

"An aggressive phase out of these pesticides has led to a sharp reduction in contamination levels, followed by a dramatic drop in breast cancer death rates," adds Dr. Page.

It is important to buy organic fruits, vegetables and definitely meats and dairy products whenever possible.

Plastics can also act as hormone disruptors.

When Friends of The Earth chairman Riccardo Navarro visited Bermuda last year he warned against heating food in plastic for this very reason.

Visit the Eden Project at the Botanical Gardens this weekend to learn more about environmental health.

Pharmaceutical drugs can also be potent hormone disruptors.

When the Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Protection in Atlanta reviewed all epidemiological studies in oestrogen use and breast cancer it concluded that oestrogen replacement therapy was consistently shown to increase the risk of breast cancer by four percent per year.

This means that a women who took oestrogen from age 50 to 65 would have a 60 percent increase in the risk of getting breast cancer.

Long term oral contraceptive use can also increase the risk.

Reduce saturated fats.

Particularly avoid fats from sugary foods and dairy products.

Trans-fatty acids found in tub margarine and corn oil and saturated fats in meat are linked to a higher risk while monounsaturated fats such as olive oil are linked to a lower risk.

Exercise.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 1997 focused on the link between physical activity and breast cancer risk.

Researchers in Norway followed more than 25,000 women for approximately 14 years.

They found that those who exercised at least four hours per week had a 37 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer than their most sedentary counterparts.

Exercise helps eliminate carcinogens from the body, supplies oxygen to the breast area and relieves stress, which if prolonged, is also a factor in cancer.

Increase your daily fibre intake.

A diet high in fibre increases the excretion of oestrogen and decreases the amount of hormones in the blood stream.

Fibre also helps clear carcinogens from the body and help keep the intestines in good health.

Do not smoke and avoid second hand smoke.

Air pollution is a factor in cancer.

Clean air and water are essential to good health.

Minimise alcohol consumption.

Studies in the Journal of the American medical association found that women who drank two to five alcoholic drinks a day had a 41 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer than nondrinkers.

Increase foods that help protect against cancer.

Eat sea greens.

Hypothyroidism is often involved in breast cancer.

Sea greens are a naturally occurring iodine source that regulate thyroid activity.

Sea weed also helps detoxify the body, protect it from radiation and provides much needed minerals.

Add sea weed such as nori to soups or stews or purchase seaweed capsules from the health food store.

Garlic has been found to effectively destroy cancer cells.

In one study white blood cells from garlic eaters were able to kill 139 percent more tumour cells than white blood cells from non-garlic eaters.

Add organic broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower to your diet.

They have oestrogen reducing effects.

Also eat plenty of organic fresh fruits and vegetables.

There are alternatives to conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

One such therapy is Gerson Therapy.

I interviewed Gerson Therapist Lesley Pearce for my column when she visited Bermuda last September to introduce Manual Lymphatic Drainage Massage to local therapists and PALS nurses.

To learn more about Gerson Therapy for cancer, visit www.gerson.org.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has also had success treating breast cancer.

TCM may also be used in conjunction with chemotherapy to strengthen immunity and minimise the harsh effects of chemotherapy.

Contact Traditional Chinese Medical Practitioner Sifu Reginald Cann B. Sc., OBT., HHP, MTOM, L. AC., Dipl. Ac. at (295-7612.