Breast cancer risk tied to bra wearing

A common misconception among women is the belief that unless you have a family history of breast cancer you really don't have much of chance of developing this disease. According to the American Cancer Society “about 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, resulting directly from gene changes (called mutations) inherited from a parent.” That means 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of breast cancer have no family history. While it is still not fully understood what causes a woman to develop breast cancer who apparently has low risk while someone with high risk may not, I found one report that I felt was worth passing on.

“Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer (husband-and-wife authors of Dressed to Kill, Avery Press, 1995) have discovered a possible trigger for breast cancer in interviews of 4,730 women in five major US cities, conducted between 1991 and 1993. They found that:

Women who wore their bras for 24 hours per day had a 3 out of 4 chance of developing breast cancer (their study included 2056 subjects for the cancer group and 2674 for the standard group).

Women who wore bras more than 12 hour per day but not to bed had a 1 out of 7 risk.

Women who wore their bras less than 12 hours per day had a 1 out of 152 risk.

Women who wore bras rarely or never had a 1 out of 168 chance of getting breast cancer.

The World Health Organization calls chemical toxins the primary cause of cancer. Poisons accumulating in breast tissue are normally flushed by clear lymph fluid into large clusters of lymph nodes nestling in the armpits and upper chest. Because lymphatic vessels are very thin, they are extremely sensitive to pressure and are easily compressed. Chronic minimal pressure on the breasts can cause lymph valves and vessels to close. A look at the breast cancer rate in countries where bra-wearing is not the norm shows a very low incidence of breast cancer. Japanese women living in Japan, where bra-wearing is uncommon, have a very low incidence of breast cancer; however in second generation Japanese-American women, the breast cancer rate sky-rockets to match that of the Western world.
The overall increase found between 24-hour wearing and not wearing at all was 125-fold.” (http://www.diagnose-me.com/)

While going bra-less is not the golden ticket to avoiding breast cancer, there is definitely enough evidence to make you think twice about binding them up on a daily basis. Personally, I am going to start thinking twice about wearing a bra in the comfort of my own home, and will be switching to wireless bras in hopes to put less pressure on the lymph nodes along the sides of the breast and underarm. Larger breasted women should also take in to account any possible back problems that could arise without proper support and should weigh their options for themselves.
 

More Info: 

Dressed to Kill

American Cancer Society