October is breast cancer awareness month! I have been absolutely amazed at how many people have been active in increasing the awareness of this disease this month. It has been wonderful. At a church I was visiting last week, the male pastor told the congregation in honor of breast cancer awareness month he was preaching out of a pink Bible. He remarked it takes a strong and confident man to carry around a pink Bible. On Facebook one of my friends suggested that we put a cute ambiguous note as part of a drive to get a newsworthy story about using social media to increase awareness about breast cancer.
As a physician I want to be part of that education process so I want to share one of the studies I have learned about this month. Washington D.C., the city where I live and practice, has the highest rate of breast cancer mortality in the country. Even more disturbing is that African-American women have higher rates of death in the District than any other ethnic group. These facts always cause me to look at research that can help explain the reasons for why so many women are dying from breast cancer in this area. I also look for treatments that support the healing and remission process for women especially in the city that I love. There is a growing concern as to why African-American women are dying of this disease in far greater numbers than any other group. Some of the factors are related to socio-economic reasons, education, access and genetic reasons. Genetically more African-American women have an ER-negative form of breast cancer. This form is insensitive to the hormone estrogen and is more aggressive, more difficult to treat and leads to more deaths. African-American women in D.C. are diagnosed with this form in higher numbers as well. Researchers at the University of Boston have been conducting a study for the last 12 years following over 50,000 African-American women and the found some results that could lower the risk of developing breast cancer. The results published in the American Journal of Epidemiology show that eating vegetables lower ER-negative breast cancer risk by 43 percent compared to those who had four servings of vegetables per week. They identified that eating cruciferous vegetables or carrots--only 2 servings per day--lowered risks for all breast cancers. Examples of cruciferous vegetables include, kale, cabbage, broccoli, and collard greens.What is incredible about these findings is that a healthy diet can lower a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer just by following the U.S. guidelines. This does not mean that eating five servings of fruits and vegetables per day will prevent breast cancer but it will help reduce the chance of developing it. I believe that as we as a medical community continue to research diet and healthy lifestyles we will continue to find evidence that diet and lifestyle are key factors in creating better overall health.
Live Vibrantly,
Dr. Dae
Dr. Dae's website: www.healthydaes.com
Dr. Dae's book: Daelicious! Recipes for Vibrant Living can be purchased @ www.healthydaes.com
Dr. Dae's Bio:
“Dr. Dae" (pronounced Dr. Day) Daemon Jones is a Naturopathic Physician who completed her training at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. She is certified as a General Practitioner by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE). Dr. Dae provides tailored treatment to meet the unique needs of every individual she sees in her practice. She also provides specialized support for persons challenged by nutritional deficiencies, weight problems, hormonal and reproductive system disorders, attention deficit disorder and those experiencing chronic diseases. Dr. Dae is an adjunct faculty member for Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts. She is the author of Daelicious! Recipes for Vibrant Living. Dr. Dae is a featured chef with www.myfoodmyhealth.com. Dr. Dae is a regularly featured writer for the Elite GoogleNews Website empowher.com where she shares her personal and professional vision for living whole and living well. To learn more about Dr. Dae, her products and services, please visit her on the Web at www.Healthydaes.com.