Dear Pharmacist,
Do you agree with Angelina Jolie's decision to remove her breasts to prevent cancer?
--S.I., Atlanta, Georgia
Answer:When I heard about her double mastectomy, my heart sank for her because I'm sure she was paralyzed by fear. After all, nobody wants to hear the "C" word leave their doctor's lips. Her decision was based on the doctors she trusts but I disagree with it.
She's supposedly removing her ovaries next. Should we tell her the BRCA1 gene increases risk of pancreatic cancer? She'll yank it. In men, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene increases risk of testicular and prostate cancer. Poor Brad, do you think he'll humor his wife?
These surgeons are going to dissect her while she's still alive and thriving. Good grief! She won't be thriving very long if they take out her ovaries and begin drug therapy to replace progesterone and estrogen. Certain hormone replacement medications increase risk of breast cancer (a tragic irony) as well as depression, gallstones, blood clots, uterine cancer, heart attack and stroke. And she pays her doctors to keep her healthy.
Preventative breast removal is a disturbingly popular trend that is being hailed as a reasonable, if not celebrated choice. Saline or silicone implants make it harder to detect breast cancer and according to the British Medical Journal, increase a woman's risk of dying should she happen to develop breast cancer.
Angelina's story makes me admire Suzanne Somers even more. I know her from medical conferences and book signings because we share the same circle as authors of health books. I love her, everybody loves her! She was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago, and forced to make a life or death decision. She chose well. The Bombshell author still thrives today and is just as vivacious as Chrissy from Three's Company.
Angelina could have peed in a cup and learned more about her breast cancer risk than taking a genetic test which cost her several thousand dollars! I'm talking about a 24-hour urine collection test that provides metabolite levels of your hormones, kind of like glimpsing inside your cells. For example, a naturally-occurring estrogen metabolite called "2-methoxyestradiol" protects you from breast cancer. If you're low, you can increase levels with natural supplements such as DIM, B vitamins, magnesium and others.
Detoxifying poisons is critical. I have more information about this in my e-book Breast Cancer Protection sold at my website.
Since when is conventional medicine genuinely interested in preventing disease? Mastectomies and breast implantation generate trillions of dollars for surgeons, radiologists, hospitals, pharmacies and drug companies. Lifestyle factors, diet, persistent organic pollutants (POPS), vitamin or mineral deficiencies and your body's innate ability to detoxify poisons all play a role in developing cancer. Common sense will tell you that if remove your breasts, or ovaries, or whatever... you're still a delicious host to cancer in your lungs, uterus, pancreas, wherever. It's a dangerous trend. Don't remove body parts to prevent cancer, make your body an inhospitable host!
