Much breast cancer is related to a
need to contain emotion. According to Caroline Myss, hurt, sorrow, and unfinished emotional business related to nurturance
are the major emotions behind lumps in the breast and breast cancer.
Breasts are located very near
the heart and can show regret, guilt or being unable to forgive (self or others). Either of these blocks feelings thereby
blocking breast energy and protection.
As early as 1888, medical research identified the relationship between breast
cancer, anger, rage, sorrow and loneliness. The researchers found that women diagnosed with breast cancer were often
self-sacrificing, inhibited sexually, unable to discharge anger or hostility and hid it behind a mask of pleasantness, and
unresolved conflicts with their mothers. Suppression of these feelings was associated with negative changes in their
immune systems, possibly making them more prone to cancer. Many women also stayed in loveless marriages, where they received
little support, which could also be a contributing factor.
It takes courage to forgive others and/or yourself and release
anger and rage, but it may be very important in the journey to staying healthy. You may wish to do this
on your own, or you can find a mental health nurse practitioner to help you. A third alternative is to take a course in assertiveness
in person or via a book or online and learn how to express your negative feelings in a socially-acceptable way.
I am
developing a workbook to help women get in touch with their feelings and find socially acceptable ways to release them. If
you have stories you wish to share about your feelings, information you need to release feelings, or reduce breast cancer
risk, please click on my picture above and follow until you can contact me with your ideas.
Food can also be helpful.
An article on the use of soybeans to reduce breast cancer risk follows.
Sources:
Caroline Myss, The Creation
of Health
Christiane Northrup, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom
Herbert Snow, The Proclivity of Women to
Cancerous Disease, London, 1883
Tarlau and Smalheiser, Personality patterns in women with malignant tumors of
the breast and cervix, Psychosomatic Medicine, vol 13, 1951, p. 117.
C.B. Bahnson, Stress and cancer: The state of the
art, Psychosomatics, volume 22, number 3 (1981), pp. 207-220.
Sandra Levy and colleagus, Perceived social support and
tumor estrogen progresterone receptor status as predictors of natural killer cell acitivty in breast cancer patients,
Psychosomatic Medicine, volume 52 (1990).
What does soy have to do with breast cancer?
Dietary soy intake among women with breast cancer is significantly associated with lower risk for death and recurrence, according to the results of a new, large, population-based cohort study reported in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
The estrogen-like effect of isoflavones and the potential interaction
between isoflavones and tamoxifen have led to concern about soy food consumption among breast cancer patients.
A
new study shows that concern may not be warranted.
The Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study evalauted
5042 female breast cancer survivors in China, women 20 to 75 years of age who were diagnosed between March 2002 and April
2006 were recruited and followed up through June 2009.
During follow-up of 5033 breast cancer patients treated
with surgery, there were 444 deaths and 534 recurrences or breast cancer–related deaths. Soy food intake, measured
by either soy protein or soy isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with mortality and recurrence.
Women with either estrogen receptor–positive or estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer exhibited this
inverse association, as did both users and nonusers of tamoxifen.
Although based on a relatively short
followup period, the researchers concluded that eating soy foods is safe and was associated with lower death and recurrence
rate among breast cancer patients.
An editorial accompanying the article stated that health care practitioners can recommend
soy foods to women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but that potential benefits are confined to soy foods, and
inferences should not be made about the risks or benefits of soy-containing dietary supplements.
What are
some soy foods?
- Tofu
- Tempeh
- Soybeans
Recipes for soy foods
