Breast Cancer and Your Immune System

Want a sobering statistic?

If you’re a woman, you have a one in eight chance of getting breast cancer during your lifetime.

Dr. Patricia Riley, Medical Director of the Breast Diagnostic Center at PRMC, can treat you if you get the disease, but she’d much rather keep you from getting the disease in the first place. However, one of the problems with prevention is, in only a few instances can we be sure of what causes breast cancer.

As she points out, “We know, for example, that flight attendants have a higher incidence of breast cancer, and the reason is radiation. At high altitudes, there’s less atmosphere available to block damaging radiation.”

She goes on to say, “If you fly between and LA and New York, you’ll get the equivalent radiation of one mammogram. For an individual making an occasional trip, it’s virtually nothing, but for women doing this consistently, day after day, year after year, the exposure becomes significant.”

 

Genetics

Genetics is another cause of breast cancer. According to Riley, about 10% of breast cancers are clearly genetic.

However, as she quickly points out, that means 90% of the women with breast cancer don’t have a family history of it. “Unfortunately, the press plays up the genetics part,” she says, “and women start assuming that if it doesn’t run in their family, that they have only a remote risk of it. But the reality is, 90% of the women with breast cancer have no family members with it.”

We know about radiation and genetics as causes of breast cancer, but in many other important areas, Riley says we’re less sure of the causes. “The question of whether hormones increase your risk of breast cancer is unresolved,” she points out. “Some studies show that yes, taking hormones increases your risk and others have shown that no, it doesn’t.”

 

Hormonal Levels

There are also other intriguing studies such as ones that show a relationship between developing breast cancer and having had children at a young age. Other studies show increased risk for women who started their periods earlier in life and went through menopause later in life.

“We think this is related to the amount of hormones in their bodies,” Riley says. “There’s also the observation that women who are overweight are more at risk, and we know that having extra fat increases hormonal levels.”

 

Decreasing the Risk

Although there’s a lot we don’t know about the causes of breast cancer, Riley believes there’s still a lot we as individuals can do to decrease our risks.

Her clinical experience convinces her that a person with a strong immune system is less likely to get the disease.

How can you strengthen your immune system? She urges us all to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days, don’t smoke, and reduce the stress in our lives.

For her, stress reduction is a particularly important part of this mix. “I can’t tell you how often a patient tells me ‘Two years ago I went through a terrible divorce’, or ‘I lost my job.’” Riley would like all of us to work on the spiritual side of our lives so that when stressful times come, we have something bigger than ourselves to fall back on.

Patricia Riley’s Wish List

That we’d all do “the same old stuff you’ve heard for years and years. Exercise, eat your fruits and vegetables, watch your weight, and have a mammogram every year after age 40.”

Search Articles

Latest Articles

Subscribe to Updates

About Author

Mitzi Perdue is the widow of the poultry magnate, Frank Perdue.  She’s the author of How To Make Your Family Business Last and 52 Tips to Combat Human Trafficking.  Contact her at www.MitziPerdue.com

All Articles

Red Cross

Red Cross

Red CrossImagine something really, really terrible. It’s 3:00 a.m. and your house has just burned down. You and the family just escaped with your lives. However, your wallet, your ID, your day time clothes, your glasses, even the medications you need are smoldering...

read more
Habitat For Humanity: Placing People in Safer Homes

Habitat For Humanity: Placing People in Safer Homes

Habitat For Humanity: Placing People in Safer Homes Denise’s Story Denise Copeland woke up one night with a really unpleasant sensation. She thought she heard something suspicious, but couldn’t be sure. She tried telling herself that it was nothing. Then her two...

read more
Diakonia

Diakonia

Diakonia Diakonia is an emergency homeless shelter serving people in Worcester County. However, it’s far more than just a place to eat and sleep. The word, “Diakonia” is a New Testament Greek word meaning “compassionate love towards the needy.” If you were to visit...

read more
A Wonderful Present: Better Health.

A Wonderful Present: Better Health.

A Wonderful Present: Better Health.Amy Hansen’s Best Holiday Gift Amy Hansen gave herself just about the best holiday gift possible. Once you know about it, you may want the same thing for yourself. Actually, it’s not strictly accurate to have it appear that it was...

read more
Review of The Way To Eat

Review of The Way To Eat

Review of The Way To Eat Have you seen any of the Public Service Announcements encouraging people to join Healthy U’s “Let’s all read the same book” program? The book they’re talking about is The Way to Eat by David Katz. Before we get into any comments about the...

read more
Healing and Mental Attitude

Healing and Mental Attitude

Healing and Mental Attitude What could beat the excitement, drama, and fulfillment of being a nurse working in critical care? For Dr. Cynthia Howard, who had years of experience as a critical care nurse before becoming a psychologist practicing here in Salisbury,...

read more