Two months ago, a good friend of mine lost his wife to breast cancer.

[Veggie Meathead]

He had been married nearly thirty years and had a beautful family and was a partner in a reputable accounting firm.Life was good.All of a sudden she developed breast cancer and was gone in about a year after valiantly struggling through chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

In the months after her death, my friend and I have talked often.Last week, it suddenly struck me that I am seeing more and more women in my circle of friends developing breast cancer.This disease was not as prevalent in the 60's and 70's as it is now, although I do not have the statistics to prove it.

This made me wonder why we are seeing this outbreak of diseases that did not exist a few decades ago or if they did why we see increased incidence of these diseases.Then I saw an article in the NYT about how ubiquitous Teflon has become in our air and water and how Dupont is concerned about the possibility that Teflon molecules can in some unknown way affect human health.

Is it conceivable that the sheer volume of many manmade chemicals and the length of time thay have been in use could indirectly lead to their absorption in the human tissues and cause diseases like breast cancer? If the molecules are stable like Teflon is,is it possible some of the bodily fluids break down these molecules causing cancerous cells to develop?

I am just speculating and because I have no expertise in these areas, I would appreciate anyone at DU shedding light on my speculation and letting me know if there is any merit at all to my suspicions.

[AwakeAtLast]

1. Well, if Shrub wins in November

none of your questions will be answered. They will be swept under the rug, never to be thought of again.

Sorry about your freind. This must be a very difficult time for the entire family.

[kanrok]

2. I don't know if you theory is correct

But I'm sorry to hear about your loss. My sister is a survivor. I do everything I can to support breast cancer research. Interesting theory though. It will prompt me to research.

[DustMolecule]

3. At the turn of the 20th century (and before)....cancer (of any kind)

was a rarity. Granted people didn't live as long as they do now (and there were 'less people', but still that doesn't explain the large number of, even young people, who get cancer now. (i.e., percentage wise younger people get cancer at greater frequency than they did in the late 1800/early 1900's .... so what's changed/different/causing it? Modernization..."progress" it's been called in conventional ""wisdom"".

[madrchsod]

4. crap i just read a magazine we printed

about womens health and breast cancer..women are increasing their cancer rates while men`s rates are stable..i did read about hormone replacement therapy -they can`t decide if this may increase cancer--and of course more womem smoke now than ever before...

[happynewyear]

6. that is a real concern to me

the hormone replacement therapy. Seems you can't get by without it unless you want to be very miserable.

:wtf: is one to do? However, hormone therapy (including birth control pills) have been around for over 40 years now, so?

:dem: :kick:

[Nay]

9. Don't get too concerned. You may have few or no menopausal

problems. I had almost no problems going through menopause. No hot flashes, no night sweats, no mood swings (beyond my normal ones, that is), nothing like that. Many women are like me, so don't assume you will have problems.

[happynewyear]

5. I just lost a sibling to cancer

It was horrible. Dx'd in November; dead a few weeks ago. Went the the whole route too - chemotherapy for months on end.

If I found out I have cancer, I'd let it go I do believe. Lost a parent the same way - sudden onset and gone in a few months.

:wtf: IS going on?

:(

:dem: :kick:

[zmdem]

7. Statistics

You admit that you have no evidence of increased rates of breast cancer, but then go on to wonder why the rate has gone up in recent decades.

This makes no sense.

Teflon has been around for decades, it is not something new. If it is a cause of breast cancer, it couldn't account for a recent increase in the rate. Teflon was a product of NASA research in the 1960's.

[OHswingvoter]

8. my wife was a cancer survivor

(after she survived cancer she left me for one of her doctors). Something she was told while she was fighting the cancer is that stress is a factor in the increased rates. That women working more and all are experiencing more stress and stress makes people more vulnerable to all kinds of illnesses. I don't know it is is true or quackery but it was interesting to me.

[eyesroll]

10. There's cancer all over both sides of my family

Both grandmothers had breast cancer (one died eventually from liver cancer; the other's in remission); paternal grandfather had thyroid cancer (that's a "good" one to get; he's 80 and considered cured). An aunt on my dad's side died of breast cancer at 39; now, my dad's brother has leukemia (he's in his mid 40s). An uncle on my mom's side had breast cancer, too, but he's in remission. My doctor will probably give me a baseline mammogram next year, at 30, instead of waiting until the usual 35, 40 or later. Thankfully, my parents, sister and I have been spared thus far.

I think part of why we're seeing more cancer is better diagnosis, and longer life spans -- before, people would have just died of something else before the cancer was even detected. Or, perhaps, we're detecting more tiny breast and prostate tumors, little skin cancers -- things that likely would not have grown enough to kill someone before the natural end of their lifespan, but we're treating them aggressively nonetheless, because, well...if you had a little tumor, you'd want it gone, even if the doc told you it was harmless, right?

But I don't think that's all of it -- I've read that certain female cancers are higher in affluent communities, because wealthy women are more likely to use dry-cleaning and lawn-chemical services than less affluent women. (The article didn't talk about cancer in dry cleaners and lawn workers, but I bet, if there is a connection, it's elevated, too.)

[leesa]

11. Possible, but you have to remember that there have been advances

in other areas like cardiovascular diseases that may change those numbers. Also, diagnosis occurs earlier now and people may live longer with the diagnosis than before.
I think that hormones used in our foods may have an impact. For instance, we feed chickens hormones to make their breasts bigger for market. Do we know how these affect human breasts?