The Preventive Medicine Center Of Gainesville

Breast cancer is probably the most feared disease among women and traditional focus has been on waiting until a woman actually has this disease, and then recommending surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Current treatments are almost equally frightening as the disease itself due to their horrific side effects and disfigurement. Some women like Suzanne Sommers have had the courage to opt for alternative and more natural therapies but the traditional medical environment is not supportive of this approach. I met a gynecologist from Texas during one of the medical conferences I attended in 2003 who gave a lecture on natural hormonal replacement therapy and reduction of cancer risk using supplements along with bio-identical hormones. He stated he had over 9,000 women in his medical practice and NONE had developed breast cancer in over ten years of following them!

‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Estrogens

The early days of estrogen research centered around three estrogen metabolites called estradiol, estriol, and estrone. More recently research has turned to two other estrogen metabolites, namely 2-hydroxyestrogen (a good estrogen) and 16a-hydroxyestrogen (a bad estrogen). Together they make up what is known as the 2/16 ratio. It is felt the higher the ratio, the lower the risk for estrogen related cancers, and the lower the ratio, the higher the risk. There may also be a correlation between a low ratio and an increased risk of prostate cancer in men as well.

A simple urine test is all it takes to determine the ratio. We have test kits available at the Center, or you can ask your commercial lab to run this test. A ratio below 1.0 should be treated and although there is no consensus as to an “ideal” ratio number, I would like to see patients with a number above 2.0 if possible. If a woman is pre-menopausal, the urine should be collected during days 19 - 23 of a 28 day cycle, and if a repeat test is needed, it should fall on the same day of the cycle as well.

Foods as Medicine

In many cases eating foods in the Brassica family of vegetables will increase the ratio. These include Brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, and cauliflower. Three to four servings a week is good and you don’t want to overdo it as too much of this family can affect thyroid function. Also, incorporating some soy products such as tofu, tempeh, and soy milk into your diet may boost the ratio. Again, only several servings a week or you could slow thyroid function down.

DIM (di-indolylmethane) supplements will also boost the ratio, as will Calcium D Glucarate. These can be obtained at a health food store or at the Center.

Estriol the “Protective” Estrogen

Researchers studied 15,000 women for almost a 40 year period, which is a very long time for any medical study. Hormone levels were measured during these women’s pregnancies and were correlated with invasive breast cancer cases or deaths. What was found was that the more estriol a woman had, the less cancer later in life! In fact, those women in the upper 25% of estriol production during pregnancy had 58% less breast cancer over the next 30-40 years.

The protective effect from estriol may be related to it’s anti-oxidant effect. To boost estriol production, a woman can take potassium iodide (we carry Biotic’s brand here at the center) in very small doses daily. This mixture of potassium and iodine causes a conversion of estrone and estradiol into estriol. Some individuals are sensitive to iodine so is must be used with care, and in large amounts it could cause thyroid suppression. Of interest, we do know there is a much lower incidence of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers in Japanese and Chinese women in general, and also a lower incidence of prostate cancers in men. They have a high intake of iodine (over 3 times that in the American diet) in their diets through eating seaweed and seafood.

The amount of estriol, estrone, and estradiol can be measured in a 24 hour urine collection and response to potassium iodide measured in this way to monitor therapy.

When I prescribe compounded hormonal replacement therapy for women and estrogen is needed, in most cases I actually prescribe a mixture of 80% estriol and 20% estradiol, which is similar to the natural ratio of these hormones in a woman’s body, but without estrone.

Know your Vitamin, Mineral, and Antioxidant Status

Another factor in breast health and health in general, is making sure your anti-oxidant function is adequate and that you have no major vitamin or mineral deficiencies. Most people do not eat the recommended minimum five or more servings of fresh fruit or vegetables a day. In addition, eating a balanced diet and taking a multivitamin may not be enough. If a person’s absorption is impaired, they will have deficiencies. Chronic illness puts a stress on the body’s nutritional status. Other factors that may have a negative impact include being under chronic stress, aging, smoking, taking prescription drugs, drinking alcohol, and being sedentary.

The most accurate way we have found at the Center to assess nutritional status is through an analysis of hair minerals and a SpectraCell FIA™ analysis of intracellular vitamin levels. Human hair is a living structure and it reflects what is going on inside your body. Hair mineral content can be analyzed at a special reference lab that has been doing this type of testing for decades. Vitamins and select minerals can also be analyzed from your body’s white blood cells by a special methodology. Both the Hair Analysis test and SpectraCell tests reflect nutritional status over a 3 to 4 month period and this is more accurate than standard blood tests that reflect only short term nutrition and can miss chronic nutritional stress. SpectraCell also has an index of antioxidant function this is useful to let you know where you stand with regards to the oxidative stress your body is under. Both tests provide a baseline against which nutritional therapies can be monitored.

Get a Breast Thermogram

In the April 2004 Newsletter I discussed Thermography as a way of screening the breast without compression or radiation exposure. It is an FDA approved method that is as accurate as mammography, and better in some respects (dense breast tissue, fibrocystic breasts, implants). I highly recommend all women age 40 or over (or younger if at higher risk) undergo this screening procedure, and here’s why. Look at the following table:

As you can see it takes on average 8 years before a breast cancer will be seen by mammography, and could be picked up by thermography up to 6 years earlier.