The statistics certainly appear intimidating, but don’t let breast cancer scare you this Halloween month! A diagnosis is not a death sentence, and October is designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month to help women become pro-active in better prevention and detection of the disease.
Let’s look at some data and then at some steps you can take to fight back.
Breast cancer by the numbers:
- One in eight women will be diagnosed with the disease
- A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 3 minutes
- One woman dies every 13 minutes from breast cancer
- More than 250,000 women with the disease are under 40
- Men can get breast cancer and 1 in every 1,000 men are diagnosed each year
- There are approximately 3 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S.
For Dr. Gino Tutera, these statistics posed an incentive to research the role of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) in breast cancer prevention. Dr. Tutera developed a customized form of BHRT in pellet form delivering the precise dosage of hormones that each individual needs to restore the body’s natural physiological balance.
In his research, he discovered the role of bio-identical testosterone pellet therapy in helping to prevent breast cancer. While still widely regarded as a predominantly male hormone, testosterone is essential for women to maintain their normal physiology. Yet this scientific fact remains largely ignored.
“Around age forty, there is an increase in fibrocystic disease of the breast,” Dr. Tutera explains. “It coincides with women losing 50 percent of their testosterone production. Testosterone therapy helps decrease over-activity of cells in the breast and if you decrease cell proliferation, you cut down on the occurrence of cystic disease.”
According to Dr. Tutera’s 10-year breast cancer study*, the restoration of normal testosterone levels for women at risk for – or suffering from – breast cancer can make a significant difference in prevention of the disease. Maintaining proper levels of testosterone offers a lifesaving alternative for breast cancer patients who see not only a higher level of survivability, but also a lower chance of recurrence.
“Breast cancer patients are uniformly subjected to the usual treatment of no hormones whatsoever, which actually shortens the life span,” says Dr. Tutera. “Through testosterone replacement with SottoPelle, we have the capability to help patients get their quality of life back.”
In addition to maintaining your hormonal balance and obtaining regular mammograms, here are some simple lifestyle approaches that can help you ward off the disease:
- Stay active and keep your body moving! That’s right… just 10 hours of exercise each week can lower your risk by 30 percent.
- Eat a healthy diet of whole foods with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Drink less alcohol and fill up on more water. According to several recent studies, limiting alcohol consumption reduces a woman’s risk of developing the disease.
- Conduct monthly breast self-examinations. This represents one of the simplest and easiest preventative steps you can take.
- Maintain a healthy weight – New research suggests that larger skirt sizes go hand in hand with greater risks for developing breast cancer.
Approximately 3 million breast cancer survivors are living proof that this disease can be beaten. More than 98 percent of cases survive due to early detection. There is hope!
Source: Gino Tutera, M.D., F.A.C.O.G
