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Breast Cancer Prevention Project
Sydney Ross
Singer and Soma Grismaijer
Dressed To Kill: The Link
Between Breast Cancer and Bras
It all has to do with the
cultural practice of wearing tight bras, and the effect this has on the
circulation within the breasts. Why would
bras be linked to breast disease and cancer?
It has to do with the effect of bras on breast circulation, specifically
the effect of bras on the lymphatic system.
It is the bloodstream’s job to
deliver fresh, oxygenated fluid to the tissues and to remove carbon
dioxide. It is the lymphatic system’s
job to remove fluid, called lymph, from the tissue spaces, along with debris,
viruses, cancer cells, bacteria, toxins, and other unwanted material.
The lymphatic system consists
of microscopic vessels that originate in the tissue space and lead to larger,
but still tiny, vessels that ultimately enter a lymph node. These nodes are bean-sized filters lined by
white blood cells. Most of the breast’s
lymph nodes are in the armpit. If the
nodes detect a virus, cancer cell, or other foreign or hazardous substance in
the tissue fluid, they begin an immune response of producing white blood cells
to combat the problem. Once through the
lymph node the fluid works its way through larger lymphatic vessels back to the
heart and the bloodstream.
One important fact about the
lymphatic system is that it is a passive drainage system. While the bloodstream
delivers fluid under the pumping pressure of the heart, the lymphatic system
has no pressure. Its flow is influenced by gravity, breathing, exercise and
movement, and massage. And the slightest constriction or compression of the
tissue can close the tiny lymphatic vessels down, inhibiting lymph flow and
leading to fluid accumulation, cysts, pain, and tenderness. This fluid
congestion within the tissue is called lymphedema.
Fibrocystic Breast
Disease
Women who have fibrocystic
breast disease essentially have lymphedema of the
breast. Its cause, we discovered, is the impairment of lymphatic flow by
pressure from the bra. Bras are elastic
garments that exert constant pressure on the breast tissue. Their purpose is to push the breasts into a
more fashionable shape. Yet, this
pressure can cut down on flow within the lymphatic system, reducing its ability
to remove fluid and toxins from the breast tissue.
The toxins that are within the breast tissue
include some biochemical products of tissue edema, such as free radicals, which
are known to cause cancer. In addition,
there are also toxins in our air, food and water, including pesticides,
herbicides, heavy metals, and other products of our petrochemically
polluted world. Many of these are known
to cause cancer. We deliver these toxins
to all of our tissues each day through the bloodstream. It is the job of the lymphatics
to remove these toxins. And it is this
job that the bra inhibits by its compression and constriction of the breasts.
This is how bras cause breast
cancer. Cancer causing toxins are
delivered to the breast tissue by the bloodstream, and are kept there by the
bra. The toxins are the bullets. The bra holds them in place, pointed directly
at the breasts. This explains why women have
more cancer in the breast than elsewhere in their bodies. The breasts are the most clothing constricted
of any organ. It also explains why
women have more breast cancer than men, and why breast cancer is only a problem
in cultures in which bras are worn.
Where there are no bras, there is virtually no breast cancer.
Bra and Breast Cancer
Study
We had written about this, and the results of our 1991-93 Bra and Breast Cancer
Study, in our book Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras
(ISCD Press). Our study was conducted on
approximately 4700
|
Hours Wearing Bra Per Day |
Chance of Breast Cancer |
|
24 hrs |
3 out of 4 |
|
More than 12 hrs |
1 out of 7 |
|
Less than 12hrs |
1 out of 152 |
|
Rarely |
1 out of 168 |
When the results were
analyzed, they revealed that women who wear bras over 12 hours daily have a
dramatically increased risk of developing breast cancer compared to bra-free
women. In fact, bra-free women have about
the same chances of developing breast cancer as men have, and this is over 100
times less than that for women wearing bras 18-24 hours daily. When
you consider that smoking increases the incidence of lung cancer 20-30 times,
this makes the link between breast cancer and bras 4-5 times greater than the
link between cigarettes and lung cancer!
Putting It to the Test
Of course, the easiest way for
a woman to determine if her own bra is damaging her breasts is to go without a
bra for a while and feel the difference.
That is what the Breast Cancer Prevention Project is about. You simply have to commit to being bra-free
for one month. Your body will tell you
the results. For the thousands of women
who have tried this, the results are spectacular. Having bound their breasts since puberty, the
feeling of breast freedom sometimes may seem strange at first. But within days, the breasts have their
chance to drain of congestion and excess fluid.
Tenderness ends. Menstrual breast
pain may disappear altogether. Cysts vanish. It’s like a miracle.
Interestingly, some women have
become so conditioned to wearing a bra that they feel uncomfortable without
one. That is because their breasts have
become reliant on the bra for support, causing the loss of function of the musculature
and ligaments that normally support the breasts. In other words, bras cause the breasts to be
weak and droop. There are many large
breasted women of all ages who have firm, healthy, trouble-free breasts because
they have never worn a bra.
The congestion of the breasts
by the bra also increases breast weight, since the breasts are essentially
swollen by edema. This can cause the
breasts to feel painful when the bra is removed. Fortunately, once the bra is no longer worn,
the breasts can decongest and can develop their tone again. Many women reported that their breasts lifted
up within months of ending the bra habit.
So here’s your challenge. Find a cotton or silk camisole or T-shirt
that you feel comfortable in, get rid of your bra, and give your breasts a
month without being bound. Then let us
know your results. If you need more
information see our website www.SelfStudyCenter.org. You can register for the study on website.
Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer
are a husband-and-wife research team dedicated to uncovering the lifestyle
causes of disease. Medical anthropologists and co-authors of, Dressed to Kill: the Link between Breast
Cancer and Bras (Avery, 1995), Get
It Up! , Get It Off! , and The Doctor Is Out! (ISCD Press,
2000-2001). Currently, they are spearheading an international campaign to
educate people about various culturogenic diseases,
explaining how to prevent and cure a host of conditions considered a “mystery”
by modern medicine. In addition, they have begun an internet based
Further
information, related articles, and links can be found at www.SelfStudyCenter.org, Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease P.O. BOX 1880 PAHOA, HAWAII 96778
Phone 808-935-5563.
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© Humber Parkerson Clinic 2006
February 2007 issue of The
Highest Level
