Thinking of possible Causes

Hi- A few things occurred to me about the reason I may have gotten breast cancer. I was thinking of how to guide my daughter in the right direction. After watching the local news this week, I thought of a few things that I did in my life that may have caused this. There was a doctor on our local news that said there was a new study that connected the use of shaving under the arm and then using deodorant -to breast cancer. My mother, my sister and I did that all the time. When I was 14 years old, my mom took me to the doctor for a lump under my arm. The doctor cut the lump out. My sister and my mom got the same procedure for lumps under the arm. We all got cancer. My sister died of lung cancer at age 37 and my mom has breast cancer. After I got breast cancer 6 years ago, I instinctively knew not to use deodorants and I just use baby powder. (We used arid cream as teens but sometimes used the deodrant sprays and they burned like mad after shaving)
Another thing I did was dye my hair for years with a dye which contained a chemical in the red dye that was found to cause cancer (they only mentiioned the red dye).
Something else I remember is that there used to be a truck that came around our neighborhood in the summer to spray for mosquitos. All of the kids would ride our bikes behind the truck and follow it around in the fog of the spray.After doing that a few times, I was so sickened when the truck came around that I ran in the house. I guess I'm lucky to have lasted so long. HaHa.
I realize that there are many things that could cause cancer, but these are just a few things that I will tell my daughter not to do. God Bless You All- Cathy

Please please read the posts on omega three and six on this site.

As you suggest literature suggests many potential threads. Hair dye and deoderant are often cited but the conclusion tend to be varied. This to me suggests it is a factor but not the key

BUT for me the one thing to do if you do nothing else is to consider your fat intake in terms on omega threes and sixes and try and push up the threes and restrict the sixes.

And after that general diet.

RB

[Sheila]

Cathy
I thought I was the only one who played in the mosquito repellant....how much fun that was to ride our bikes in the "fog"....never thinking it was a pesticide or insectiside....I never got sick from it then....but I can vivdly remember the smell....makes me wonder too how this affected us long term...now I won't even let my dogs out when the spray truck comes around!.

[suzan w]

hmmmmmmmmmmmm...I, too, used to run out of the house at night after the mosquito truck went by, thinking that the summer fog was like playing in the snow...that was in Massachusetts in the 1950's. As someone who 'grew up' in the 60's as a hippie...I did not shave or use deodorant (also very fair haired so didn't really need to!!) and never did. But have always wondered about that mosquito truck...

[kristen]

I lived in the country, so no mosquito trucks came by our house. They did spray for thistles and weeds in the embankments. The farmers have been puttin in chemicals for years into the ground and then also applying then on top as they grow.

As an adult I lived in a neighborhood of 36 homes and 5, thought 6 had gotten cancer in that little place. One little girl, neuroblastoma, died at 3.5 yrs of age. 2 lung cancer. 1 BC. 1 prostate cancer. The other was thought to have stomach cancer but thankfully she didn't. One daughter developed Crohn's disease at 16. These homes all had underlying rock in them,,,,Radon gas?

I think it's all conjecture, but something that should be stored somewhere. Wasn't that Sister Study, doing more enviromental applications, they wanted dust from your home and things like that? Can't remember everything they wanted and now I wonder where they are at with there study. Any one know?

[bjj]

I'm in the UK so name of the stuff might be different.

My Mum used to hang up Vapona air strips in the kitchen to keep the flies out (I lived on a farm). The instructions said not to use them near food but she hated the flies so much that she did anyway. Vapona air strips are now know to be carcinogenic and have been withdrawn. Despite a very healthy diet my Mum died of bowel cancer.

I worked on my Dad's farm every summer from the age of 11 - 20. I had direct exposure to a chemical called Thimet - it was applied to plants as a pesticide. We had protective gear - just didn't happen then. The stuff got everywhere - in my hair, on my hands, on my clothes, I breathed it in. There is a very high proportion of cancer in the farming families in the area where my Dad farms - in fact there isn't a single family that hasn't lost at least one member to it. My Dad has Parkinson's - also probably caused by pesticides.

I'd like to blame that for my cancer - I have no other risk factors in my life, I fed my kids for 13 and 20 months, I have never taken any hormone treatment, I have a very healthy diet, I exercise, I don't smoke, I drink very moderately. I hope it is the pesticide because I don't want my daughter to get this horrible disease.

bjj

[Gina]

Hi,

We just finished our first successful moderated chat room on nutrition and supplements...for all of you interested in this thread on her-2 origins..I will be moderating the January 1 chat room on this very topic and am very interested to look at ALL theories..no matter how "out there" and see if we can find certain themes repeated again and again...for those coming up in the 50's --there have been some connections with the gamma globulin shot often given at this time for polio..and later..for folks traveling abroad or who had been exposed to hepatitis...there is also an usually high number of RH negative (blood types) who are her-2 pos and many received the rhogam shot when they carried a child with a positive blood type....I am also interested in pursuing any her-2 folks who had or have family members with ulcer or bowel disease, especially those who know for sure that they themselves or others in their family have tested positive for h. pylori. I am also looking at second hand smoke and instances of Chlamydia pneumonia...so from now till the new year..smile..put on those thinking caps and pop into the chat room ready to share YOU BEST guess as to what caused your her-2 to start over-expressing in the first place...smile..UNTIL then, take care, Gina (GPopp@Comcast.net)

Dear Gina- I am trying to email you, but I can't get in to get your address. Could you send it to me. Thanks- and God Bless Cathy

[panicked911]

I too, racked my brain searching for the "cause" of my breast cancer _ I thought I had done "everything right" - never used birth control pills, vegetarian diet, exercised regaularly and breast fed both of my children etc.

I spoke with a good friend who is a top cancer researcher in New York and he said " IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT - THERE IS NOTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO PREVENT THIS "
Almost all Breast cancers are either genetic or hormonal based - there is a small percentage of unknown origin -
Stop beating yourself up for what you may have done - this is not like Lung cancer where you know what you did caused the cancer to develop.

[uma]

It is well accepted in the scientific & medical community, that the myriad toxins let loose environmentally by the industries produce cancer. Nobody can deny this accepted scientific fact. To name a few are: PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls, petroleum and jet fuels, and various food colorings such as Red 20 or 40). The list goes on and on. Now, my simple logic for the cause of cancer is: If so many environmentally let loose chemicals cause one form of cancer or the other, then if somebody gets cancer, it is obvious that some toxic chemical has caused it, without doubt. Only, the doctors and scientists do not know what caused that cancer, nor can they test it to identify or prove in a court of law. By reverse logic we can deduce that the cancer was caused by some toxic chemical not identifiable. It is being easily explained away as genetically defective DNA. But, carcinogens have also been proved to damage DNA. So the cause, which is obvious is that environmental toxins are damaging our DNA and causing cancer. However, the industry and all the powers that be do not want to accept the fact and take responsibility to stop the cause. This is the same story as the "king who wore no clothes, but everbody had to admire his clothes".
Uma

Dear Panicked911- My sister died from lung cancer at age 37. Neither she nor any of her family or friends know what caused it. She never smoked or drank, used birth control, had an abortion,etc.etc. and she ate a healthy diet.
I'm not beating myself up about the cause, only trying to help my offspring and the next generation. God Bless- Cathy

[panicked911]

Unfortunately for all of us there are no answers. like you, I also have thenext generation to worry about - I have a 10 -year old daughter - who I am worried to death about - after two months of asking questions and doing countless research - The best anyone can come up with if you are not carrying "the gene" the best defense is vigilence...

I just hope and pray by the time my daughter reaches the "danger zone" there will be a cure - As I think back - I can probably pin point the time the cancer started - right before I turned 40 - I gained under 10 pounds , mt breasts grew a cup size and for the first time in mylife i developed "hips" - PMS became horrible- and myhormones were out of whack - no doctor thought anything of it - and mamos were clean - My cancer was caught as a fluke - ad thank God for the docs at memorial sloan kettering in NYC - who were able to figure out what was going on and gave me a chance to have my life back -

But as i said before, there was nothing I did or anything anyone of us could have done to "prevent" this. IT IS NOT OUR FAULT - we were dealt a set of cards and have no choice but to deal with it -

[Gina]

my home e-mail is GPOPP@Comcast.net. Please feel free to e-mail me any time. Sometimes it may take a couple of days for me to get back to you as I get between 40 and 75 hits a day there..smile...oh happy me...at least I am NEVER lonely..smile...Take care all, looking forward to chatting about these kinds of thoughts on Sunday, January 1st, 2006 at 8:00pm EST CHAT .

Best wishes for happy holidays,
Gina

We are the victims of “The Corporation” and our own genetic.
# One, for sure people who get Cancer are more sensitive to toxic environment than the others; we have the genes.

Cancer has been around since beginning of time (in very old Chinese books), but according to statistics in 1920 the chance of getting Breast Cancer was 1 in 70 , today is 1 in 7 and they have predicted it will be 1 in 2 in 2010 (all kind of cancers).
I don’t know if you have seen this movie “The Corporation”. I recommend to everybody to see it; it’s a documentary and it’s very informative: Morals over markets. We need to determine certain things shouldn't be bought and sold" or made.

The Corporation exists to create wealth, and even world disasters can be profit centers. Carlton Brown, a commodities trader, recounts with unabashed honesty the mindset of gold traders while the twin towers crushed their occupants. The first thing that came to their minds, he tells us, was: "How much is gold up?"

PLANET INC.
You'd think that things like disasters, or the purity of childhood, or even milk, let alone water or air, would be sacred. But no. Corporations have no built-in limits on what, who, or how much they can exploit for profit. In the fifteenth century, the enclosure movement began to put fences around public grazing lands so that they might be privately owned and exploited. Today, every molecule on the planet is up for grabs. In a bid to own it all, corporations are patenting animals, plants, even your DNA.

Around things too precious, vulnerable, sacred or important to the public interest, governments have, in the past, drawn protective boundaries against corporate exploitation. Today, governments are inviting corporations into domains from which they were previously barred.

Don’t forget Cancer is a Multi Billion Dollars Industry. Is anybody interested in stopping this profitable market and prevent cancer causing things? Even we as Cancer victims love these companies because they are saving our lives!

Unfortunately we are active participants in this vicious circle. Food, drugs, air, perfume; my favorite! I remember I was in Cancun last summer, and spent most of my time in nature. The whole time I couldn’t find one mosquito or bug and even though I liked it I was thinking for sure if they can destroy the entire spices, what this would do to us? Next thing I know I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer with zero risk factors!

If we want better health for our children we must have active role in the society and force our governments to put limitations for “The Corporation”. Success in this process may seem so slow an unreachable that most of us try not to think about it. But don’t forget the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

We can go and live in the bushes, we may not die of cancer but for sure we will die of loneliness or maybe diarrhea!

I found out about a year and a half ago, after the dx of me with BC and my daughter with Adrenal cancer, that we have Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. It really helped to explain all the cancer of young people in my direct line of relatives. The p53 gene is only 1 gene too. First I wondered if we had a BRCA gene, then I just knew it was something else when my daughter was dx. No matter how healthy I have been, I got dx with Stage 2a and I still got bone and liver mets with no lymph nodes positive. I had a bilateral mast. followed by 4AC and 4 Taxotere, then had my ovaries removed cause they were worried about possible ovarian cancer with my family history. My cancer was er-, her+++, and 2cm, IDC, 0 nodes positive. It still came back 2 yrs after dx. The biggest kicker about it all is that the same exact thing happened to my mother - almost to the tee... I just hope Herceptin/paraplatin/taxol + rad will help me outlive her age of 33. It's bad luck in the gene pool.

I think the cause of my wifes cancer was from the use of fertility drugs and Lupron. I think back and we wanted children. I wouldn't change the children for anything nor my wife, but I think this is the cause. Her family history does not support this.

JOhn

[panicked911]

I find it very interestig that John thinks his wife's cancer was brught on in part- by Lupron - I am beign given Lupron to PREVENT a reoccurance - does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[Becky]

When news came out that an aromatase inhibitor and herceptin worked well together for those of us that are Her 2+ and hormone positive, I wanted to go on an AI (I am ER+ but PR -). It was also well documented that tamoxifen might not work well for those like me. However, I was not postmenopausal so I could not take an AI. Zoladex and Lupron were recommended (so I could take an AI) but I opted to get my ovaries removed. I did this because it seemed ludricious to me to take one hormonal drug just so I could take another (the AI). So, I said no to Lupron (and Zoladex) for that reason. It reminded me of my mother who takes zillions of prescription drugs - some to relieve the side effects of others.


Oh well. Take care.

Best regards

Becky

[Petesmom]

There is an interesting article in the "The New York Times" today about the links between environment and cancer. If you can't click on the link go to www.nytimes.com and look in the Health Section. The article is by Gina Kolata.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/health/13canc.html

Petesmom