The Cancer-Antiperspirant 'Myth' (breast cancer, aluminum, & shaving)

Did you see the ad for the Wal-Mart "fact" site? The employee comment section was more lockstep "nuttin wrong here" than a * press conference.

It's from May 2004, but then again McGrath published the results of his study in Jan 2004. ;)

The article covers many sides of the debate, but concludes with this:

In point of fact, it's well established that slenderness correlates substantially with a heightened risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer (which is deadlier than the postmenopausal breast cancer):

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:hSzJMRXxTEsJ:www.medscape.com/viewarticle/500880+bmi+breast-cancer+premenopausal&hl=en


In contrast, the correlation of postmenopausal breast cancer with high BMI is slight.


On the whole, there's no good reason to think that dieting, eating salad, and abstaining from alcohol will lower ones risk of developing breast cancer. People recommend such regimens because they assume that self-denial is holy, and that good health is its natural reward. But that's really more an example of superstitious thinking than anything else.

Firstly though, the point of that quote wasn't really to offer advice, it was to quickly show the bottom line of the detailed article I linked to. The important part was "The problem is that the evidence that underarm products cause breast cancer is simply not there."

Why ignore postmenopausal breast cancer in which BMI is a factor?
Study Here

There is also evidence that alcohol intake is related to breast cancer risk: Study here

Finally, the 'advice' was not exactly "diet, eat salad, and abstain from alcohol", and I don't see how eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is self-denial.

... the methodology and sample of the study. Even the links to the government's cancer site don't provide that information.

As I recall, in the `80s, the fear that aluminum salts from aluminum cookware were the root cause of Alzheimer's disease caused a general panic (a panic helpfully furthered by the country's most recent right-wing crazy, Savage Weiner, as I remember), and which turned out not to be true.

An adequate control would include equal, large samples of women who shaved and applied anti-perspirants, those who applied anti-perspirants but did not shave, and those who did neither, and then compared those results to women in other countries in which environmental laws were stricter.

It might turn out that the parabens in the compounds aren't good for one (often showing up in the form of methylparaben). Tertiary methyl compounds are increasingly found to be bad actors in some cancers, as are chlorinated methyl groups and chlorinated biphenyls. But, without some ability, statistically, to isolate the particular behavior from other health habits, including diet, it would be difficult to prove conclusively.

As I recall, diet has been a concern for a long time, since studies comparing genetically similar Japanese and Japanese-American women showed a link between fat intake and breast cancer because of dissimilar diets. Fatty tissue binds all sorts of bad compounds that are out in the environment today (and, fatty tissue produces some estrogen).

We're probably going to find that breast cancer--and its cousins, prostate and ovarian cancer--are intimately influenced by multiple environmental factors.

CBS's was poor, I agree.
McGrath simply asked about 430 breast cancer survivors about their history of shaving their underarms and using anti-perspirant.
http://www.nbc5.com/health/2747353/detail.html

Also:
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/breast.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/chemicalworld/story/0,14534,1210085,00.html

According to my grandmother (who died last year at 93), she first heard of it in the 1930s, which is probably when the first aluminum cookware was marketed. The link to Alzheimer was made about 30 years ago, but as far as I can recall, it wasn't a very strong link, and the medical community didn't really follow it up -- or, if they did, it could have been one of those things that never received much publicity.

I personally avoid aluminum cookware because when I was first living on my own, every piece of it I bought released aluminum into the water or the food, usually making the food less than palatable. Between that and the low probability of developing Alzheimer-related dementia in my old age, I learned to favor stainless steel and glass cookware.

I'm with you on the "multiple environmental factors" thing. Xenoestrogens are emerging as a major factor in many public health issues, notably obesity, as well as the desexualization of fish and amphibians. Genistein, which is in soy products in large quantities, is a potent xenoestrogen (technically, a phytoestrogen). And manufacture of Teflon and teflon-like plastics uses and releases large amounts of xenoestrogenic pollutants. (I'm sure that a literature search will turn up hundreds of such studies, most over the past five years or so.)

It's hard to figure out what to avoid and what to favor -- except for the usual "lose weight, exercise, eat more vegetables, and don't smoke". On the other hand, the advice works. It's easier to survive aluminum and xenoestrogens, for instance, if you're not overweight.

Cook safely!

--p!

... as here:

http://www.garynull.com/Documents/NutritionMind/nutritionmind-1.htm

Aluminum is a moderately reactive metal, but it doesn't have characteristics like heavy metals, and given a restrictive choice between aluminum and teflon-coated cookware, I'd certainly choose aluminum (m'self, I almost exclusively use my grandfather's old iron skillet, for both practical--it's got a great patina--and sentimental reasons). I think the trend away from cast iron to aluminum had much to do with advertising--the aluminum would heat up more quickly, but cast iron was still cheaper and just as effective.

Cheers.

Enough said, just don't ask what Dows chemicals do to you.

Don't you?

The bottom line when research is uncertain- but the negative "payoff" is high- do you want to take an unneccessary chance? Is there a way that's known to be safer and get the same results?

With anti-perspirants there is, which is why I never use aluminum based products.

which is why I've been using deodorant but not antiperspirant for years.

It's damned hard to find in women's versions-- I actually use men's.

That is, the quadrant that is closest to the armpit and its cluster of lymph nodes. Something to think about....

And for abnormal lumps in the breast:
60% of lesions are found in the right upper quadrant,
5% in the nipple,
5% in the left lower quadrant and
15% in each of the others
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40024547/

The location of breast cancers is as follows:
* Upper outer quadrant: 50%
* Central area: 20%
* Lower outer quadrant: 10%
* Upper inner quadrant: 10%
* Lower inner quadrant: 10%
http://www-medlib.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/BREAST/BREAST.html

That seems well reasoned to me. :shrug:

chronic conditions.
The National Academy of Sciences documented that 50% of pregnancies in the last decade resulted in birth defects or developmental disorders/chronic conditions- such as ADHD,autism,eczema,mood/anxiety disorders, asthma, CF,CP, chronic allergies,etc.

And it has been documented by medical studies that toxic metal exposures were the main cause
http://www.flcv.com/tmlbn.html

Aluminum is documented to be one of the major factors in such, though lesser than mercury, lead, arsenic.

Aluminum in anti-perspirant blocks the pores related to lymph node wastes, which are a major and important way of getting rid of the bodies toxic wastes. So it shouldn't surprise that such would cause chronic health problems.

Aluminum has also along with mercury been found to be a major factor in conditions like Alzheimer's,etc.

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/alzhg.html

And Alzheimer's like most conditions is treatable and lots of people get better. A friend at work whose mother(79) had Alz recently recovered after doing aluminum detox. The study notes more treated for mercury who recover. And glyconutrients are also documented to have brought recovery of cases.

But the effects of toxics are real and common.
over 3000 peer-reviewed studies referenced on the above web site relate to signficant effects of toxic metals affecting millions.

This article is specifically about anti-perspirant and shaving.

Your statement "Aluminum in anti-perspirant blocks the pores related to lymph node wastes, which are a major and important way of getting rid of the bodies toxic wastes. So it shouldn't surprise that such would cause chronic health problems." intrigued me because it seems to make sense. However when researching it I came across a study that sites extended bra wearing as a cause of breast cancer. This casts yet more doubt on how McGrath interpreted his study because I'd bet that there is a detectable correlation between bra-wearing and shaving underarms.

btw, your statement still makes some sense, but as far as anti-perspirant and shaving goes, there's no solid evidence that together they increase the risk of breast cancer. Of course that doesn't mean our culture should continue to be so careless with our environment and its inhabitants.