Don't Know if this has appeared before, but I thought I place it here after a heated debate with a clueless good female friend of mine. Take in consideration that these are NOT my words, I wouldn't think of gaining credit for them, but I know something of the subject, did some searching and I have copy pasted for your convenience. Nevertheless, I believe the research is correct and the advice should be heeded.
Many people say that bras causing breast cancer is just a myth. It is true that bras do not cause breast per se, but ill-fitting, too tight bras can help cancer growth since they can prevent your body from excreting dangerous cancer-causing chemicals. And, as bra industry and even Oprah note, 80%+ of women wear the wrong-size bra.
The main reason why tight bras are bad for breast health is because they restrict the lymph flow in your breasts. There are numerous lymph pathways and lymph nodes in the armpits, under the breasts, and in between the breasts. Normally the lymph fluid washes out waste materials and other toxins away from the breasts, but bras (and especially push-up bras) inhibit this action, so toxins can start to accumulate in the breast, and that can help cancer to develop. In other words, bras inhibit the way our bodies normally cleanse themselves and get rid of cancer cells and toxins like PCBs, DDT, dioxin, benzene and other carsinogenic chemicals that cling to the body's fatty tissues like breast. In fact, if you find a lump in your breast, it may very well be filled with lymph fluid that was not able to move away from the breast tissue.
Bra wearing may also be connected to cancer in other ways. Wearing bras slightly increases the temperature of the breast tissue, and women who wear bras have higher levels of the hormone prolactin. Both of these may influence breast cancer formation.
The first comprehensive study on this subject was done by medical researcher Sydney Singer, after his wife Soma Grismaijer discovered a lump on her breast. She got rid of hers in two months by quitting wearing bra, doing regular breast massage and exercise, drinking only purified water, and taking some herbs and supplemental vitamins and minerals.
Singers noticed that the Maoris of New Zealand integrated into white culture have the same rate of breast cancer, while the marginalized aboriginals of Australia have practically no breast cancer. The same was true for "Westernized" Japanese, Fijians and other bra-converted cultures.
In the early 1990s Singers studied 4,500 women in 5 cities across the U.S. about their habits in purchasing and wearing bras, and later published their findings in a book Dressed to Kill. Though the study did not take into account other lifestyle factors, the results are too striking to be denied:
* 3 out of 4 women who wore their bras 24 hours per day developed breast cancer.
* 1 out of 7 women who wore bras more than 12 hour per day but not to bed developed breast cancer.
* 1 out of 152 women who wore their bras less than 12 hours per day got breast cancer.
* 1 out of 168 women who wore bras rarely or never acquired breast cancer.
So the difference between 24 hour wearing and not at all fa was 125-fold!
The lymphatic system in the breast only develops fully during pregnancy and breastfeeding, so women who wear bras everyday and postpone having children, and those who do not breastfeed, could be at higher risk of breast cancer.
It is well known that the well-established risk factors for breast cancer only explain maybe 25% of the cancer cases. In other words, about 75% of the women who get breast cancer do not have any of the typically mentioned risk factors such as earlier history of breast cancer, or smoking, or early menarche. You can see this fact mentioned wherever breast cancer risk factors are discussed; for example: "Studies show that most women who develop breast cancer have none of the risk factors listed above, other than the risk that comes with growing older." (Breast cancer causes and risk factors from CancerCompass.com) and 70% of people with breast cancer have none of the known risk factors beside age." (http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/GetInformed/Risk.html).
Maybe wearing an ill-fitting bra (or even just any bra?) is a risk factor that could explain much of that 'unknown' variation! Also it is well known from scientific research that women in western countries get more breast cancer than African women, for example. The difference in bra-wearing habits could easily explain this, too. Someone should take action and do more research!
Though studies along these lines are not numerous (probably because there is no money to be gained from asking women to not wear a bra), there are some which confirm the link between bra wearing and breast cancer, and also fibrocystic disease and breast cancer. In 1991 Hsieh & Trichopoulos studied breast size and left/right handedness as risk factors, and noted in the findings that premenopausal women who do not wear bras had less than half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra wearers. (Breast size, handedness and breast cancer risk. Eur J Cancer. 1991;27(2):131-5.)
In 2000, in a British study women were instructed to go bra-free for three months. Women were interviewed and discussed the life-altering improvements in their breast health, such as being able to now pick up their children or hug their spouse without pain.
David Moth has conducted an experiment where he measured the actual pressure exerted by bras. He says, "The results suggest that the lightest possible bras will still exert pressures in excess of that found within the lymphatic vessels." You can read more of his experiment at the webpage Experiment to measure the force exerted by a bra on the lymphatic system.
CONCLUSION:
Ladies, next time you take your bra off, look at yourself in the mirror. You might see red lines on the sides and/or underneath your breasts, and marks on your shoulders from the straps. This is not a good sign, the lymph flow might have been been cut off. Push-up bras and those with underwire or high side panels have even more constricting effect on the lymphatic vessels. It's time to buy a better fitting one. Also try give your breasts free time from bras every day - if possible at least 12 hours.
Most people think that the pressure from bras (or from other tight clothes) is not a health hazard. We do know clothing and the pressure it creates does matter in some other body parts - why not for breasts? A study that investigated the pressures exerted by two different types of bras (a conventional brassiere and a newly devised low skin-pressured brassiere) found that there was a difference, and concluded: "Our data indicate that the higher clothing pressures exerted by a conventional brassiere have a significant negative impact on the ANS [autonomic nervous system] activity".
(Effects of clothing pressure caused by different types of brassieres on autonomic nervous system activity evaluated by heart rate variability power spectral analysis. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2002 Jan;21(1):67-74.)
Another study found that wearing a bra decreased melatonin production and increased the core body temperature. Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and hormone that promotes good sleep, fights aging, boosts immune system, and slows the growth of certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.
(The effects of skin pressure by clothing on circadian rhythms of core temperature and salivary melatonin. Chronobiol Int. 2000 Nov;17(6):783-93.)
Give it a try! Go without bras for couple of weeks and see if you don't feel better. That experiment won't cost you anything whereas you might save a fortune in medical bills!
And like Brandye says: "Don't wear cheap bras" In fact, maybe don't use them at all :D
What a thoughtful post you have done! I'll have to do some research on the topic and it would be helpful for clarification on the subject by Brandye!
I know years back I read an article suggesting that bras with under-wires were linked to a higher risk of Breast Cancer, in all honesty I did not take it it consideration since I am a "B" and pass the pencil test, as Brandye suggests as does other breast surgeons.
I skip bras when home since they are not required for me and I find them VERY uncomfortable. On the other side Brandye wears them since her breasts get in the way of her of ADL's. Furthermore, I wear one for aesthetic purposes, need all the help I can get!
I believe your info should be read by all women and considered! Thanks for all the information!
When the book first appeared about eleven years ago it had a greater readership among the naturalists and herbalists than any among physicians. Certainly there are some good points made (pregnancy, proper fit) but overall it is a compendium of unproven stuff with editorial comment and poorly designed studies. This does not reflect a study of a valid sample linking breast cancer to bra wearing. It is inference from many studies, some of which were valid for some elements and some of which were outrageously bad.
I called two friends over the weekend to see what has been going on in the field. One is an oncologist in Glasgow and the other a specialist in breast disease at my old med school in Germany. She is primarily a professor and researcher and her practice is limited to breast disease. We were all wearing bras during the conversations.
There were no controls. Control for age is necessary. Observations of sub-Sahara Africa (and westernized Maoris) are out of whack because the typical onset of breast cancer is between 40 and 60; in sub-Sahara Africa, women are dead from other causes (life expectancy is about 40) before cancer would develop. Moreover, many of the other risk factors (smoking, low fiber diets) are lower among these tribes than in London. As cultures “westernize,” they assume the risks of diet, stress, etc of the culture they are moving towards.
The observations about pregnancy and breast feeding are well known. Non-parous women (such as I, no children) have higher incidence of breast cancer than women who have had children and, especially, breast fed those kids. That is an easy variable to control. Diet, life-style, activity, exercise, impact injury and a myriad other factors are not considered. The “results too striking to be denied” are so far skewed that they are met with complete incredulity in the medical community. This was a cross-sectional study with no controls and with no real ending. To think that wearing a bra increases the chances of cancer by a factor of 125 is illogical on the surface and not even worth attempting to test. This is more than ten times the difference between smokers and non-smokers linked to lung cancer. To really test this would require a sample ten times larger tracked from puberty through age sixty with bra wearing practices, and fit, documented about annually.
The temperature issues may have some basis. On the other hand, only those who wear padded bras in hot weather experience sufficient change in tissue temperature to be of any concern. There is not physiological reason for the breasts to be cooled (as for testicles) and normal blood circulation provides adequate cooling. In fact a sweat soaked bra may actually work as a radiator, cooling the breasts. This temperature issue is being studied.
To the extent the insights are valid, they could be linked to fit of the bra. The restricting and constricting examples cited are real. Some women in my exam room have permanent indentation from ill-fitting bras. This does affect circulation of both blood and lymphatic juices. We do not know what damage this limitation causes, but limiting circulation must have some effects. The cure is not to eliminate a bra but to have it properly fitted. The idea of breast massage to encourage circulation, especially of the lymphatic juices, is a good one. Although, this, too, is undocumented.
Except for my sports bras, all of mine are custom made and all are underwire. My bra is the first bit of clothing on in the morning and I wear these an average of nearly twelve hours a day. At the end of the day, there is sometimes a slight line at the bottom of the band. These fit properly. I wear a sportsbra cycling so that is, on average, another two hours a day. I do not wear a bra (or anything else) to bed.
Only a man could recommend elimination of bras given the variety of shapes of breasts and activities in the modern world. Play a set of tennis, or hit a six iron, perform an appendectomy or clean house without a bra? There would be more impact damage to breast tissue than could possibly be caused by the bra. Doing lots of things (like eating an Italian meal), we want them where they belong and not flopping around. There is something to the old saw about a “tit in a wringer” even though most people no longer know what a wringer is!
The three of us on the phone this weekend did reach a consensus that every woman eating one additional piece of fruit and an additional serving of vegetables would do more to reduce cancer than eliminating bras. Oh, and get proper fitting, good quality bras.
While I certainly understand the cepticism of Brandye on this matter, being her turf and all, I would certainly say that women wear bras for too much time in a row and certainly wrong bras to get that "extra edge" while seducing. I can also understand that some of the data and statistics may be a bit far-fetched, but for I can see nowadays, if you don't dramatize the circumstances and effects, people just don't react. For all the multitude of information available nowadays on sex issues, for instance, some women still believe they can get pregnant if they clean themselves to her brothers towel or avoid pregnancy if, after sex, clean their vagina with Coca-Cola (yes they actually sent a mail to a doctor with this question). As such, I believe strongly that women should review their bra using habits, because with science, I'm tired of having to hear the famous quote: "It's scientifically proven that it's wasn't scientifically proven"...
But, at that point, the damage is done. I know, I'm sceptic about science, but what problem is there to do just a bit more about our health?
Look,
His sample size was 4500. Using medical statistics, about 900 of them would develop breast cancer if tracked long enough. There are no data on age, smoking, diet, impact to the breast, pregnancy, breast feeding, fibroid cysts, exercise, family history, cell sizes of his four categories, employment or anything else.
I am not a sceptic; I am flat out saying that the study is so flawed that no conclusions can be made. If I examine 10,000 13 year olds, I will find a very low incidence of breast cancer; 40 year olds, it will be 15%. If I study women with no family history of breast cancer, the incidence will be much lower than a group whose mothers and older sisters who have developed breast cancer. If I study a group of women who work in a battery factory, the incidence will be higher than a group of accountants. How many women over the age of twenty habitually go braless? How many women larger than the classic 34B go braless? When you hit 38 whatevers, how many women are without bras? A sample of 4500 otherwise undescribed women cannot yield any conclusions. Period. This is not science. This is crap. And it was all likely done to some pre-ordained conclusion.
Some of the other studies you cite are quite good and well recognized. But they still require that one make the inductive leap from what they found to whether or not there is a causal relationship to breast cancer.
Yes, many of us do have "special purpose bras." We usually wear them for a matter of a few hours once in a while. Our daily wear "work bras" are the ones that are on enough to do damage as you posit. We typically do not wear long line strapless or push-up shelf bras to work.
Incidentally, Sydney Singer was not a "medical researcher," he is some sort of envirnmental engineer who stepped out of his field - evidently with little knowledge of non-parametric statistics.
I never intended to make an expert's accessment of the situation, even because I clearly stated that those were not my words, would not receive credit for them and believed (as opposed to "I was sure that") the research had some good points to it. I only say that even if the study is flawed, as you so linearly and methodically shown, I still believe there is some truth on it and that by the simple common rule of "where's smoke there's fire", it doesn't hurt to change a bit the bra-using habits.
You are totally correct, in your profissional evaluation, to downgrade with facts the study if it's flawed. Nevertheless, my opinion remains: doesn't hurt to pay a bit more attention to what women are using and how they are using it.
Improper fit of bras is an irritant for me. At least half the women I see could be better fit. Taken to an extreme, that can cause damage. For those of us with more than an A cup, the swinging around can cause problems. If you want to go on a rant about getting bras properly fitted, we can be a team! I have had the little label under my name for years, now! Bras are , however, a must for women athletes. The banging around in sports can really do long term damage. Even in a sport such as cycling, their swinging in breeze when on rams'horm bras can be damaging.
If you really want to go on a tear, take on high heeled shoes! That is where women are damaging themselves big time. Yes, I do have some; no, I do not wear them on a daily basis. Fortunately I am tall enough that spikes are not expected of me even at formal events.
Oh don't get me started on high heels! Can you believe that some women don't believe those damage LIKE HELL your feet, spinal cord, etc?! And they think the pain on their feet is from tight shoes!! Grrrrrr I accept. Let us be the BrasFitting HighHeelsKicking team ;)