For the women diagnosed with breast cancer resulting depression is easy to understand. Breast cancer is a very scary and life altering event. It would be surprising if some depression didn't occur. But the thought of depression being a possible cause of breast cancer seems out of the question. The findings may surprise you.

Some studies and research have been done to indicate a link between depression and breast cancer. Some of the medical community agrees with the results indicating that there is in fact a link between depression and breast cancer. Still others feel there should be more studies performed to completely prove the link.

Some reports indicate that women suffering from depression are two to four times as likely to develop breast cancer as those with no depression. No such link exists between other types of cancer.

Possible Causes

How can breast cancer be related to depression?

The answers are varied. Different researcher and medical professionals have differing opinions. It depends on which medical community to interview. Some are further investigating the mind-body link for developing breast cancer.

Some scientists have come up with a possible cause being a hormonal link. This belief centers on stress hormones that may be elevated with depression.

Another possible hormonal link involving estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone as women with depression can also have imbalances with these hormones. Women with severe depression have unbalanced levels of these hormones.

Still another theory involves medication prescribed for depression. They seem to think there's the possibility of breast cancer being caused by immune system suppression caused by increased stress hormones and certain antidepressants as tumor promoters.

While there have been no final and conclusive decisions made about the possible link between depression and breast cancer there are enough statistics pointing to this link that further studies are well warranted. Is there any way for a woman with depression to prevent this possible link form occurring?

At this point there are no strong recommendations. If you do have depression, make sure to seek medical help. Getting control of your depression can help to keep stress hormones and other body functions in good shape.

Make sure to get regular check-ups and mammograms. Self-test at least once a month.

If you find any abnormalities get it checked immediately. Early detection of breast cancer is a primary factor in cancer elimination and survival rates.

My friend has breast cancer. She just turned 50. This year she also lost her job, saw her eighty-something father through getting a pace-maker and broke her foot. All these events took place in a mere 4 month span. Talk about stress!

At this particular moment the news is "good". The internist actually told her "if you had to get breast cancer, this is the best one to get"! I'm no expert, by any means, but that sounded like an oxymoron to me. There's a "good" type?

The radiologist tried to calm my friend's fears as much as possible-explaining that she was fortunate enough that it was caught in an extremely early stage. According to the mammogram, the sonogram and the biopsy, that it's very tiny and localized. Both of these first two doctors said that since these were all signs of an excellent prognosis they felt that a lumpectomy would be all she would need. Of course, this was also followed by "unless the surgeon feels differently and thinks some radiation might be warranted".

When she e-mailed me with the news, I felt a wave of nausea myself. After all, I'm but a mere year younger so I felt her terror and the terror of wondering who could/would be next to announce this type of news. Being a writer my way of coping was to start researching the web for types, treatments, groups and outcomes for an article.

Many of the websites talked about the varied types, stages and treatments. Too numerous to become an expert on for the most part. Since my friend is still in the "numb" stage, as she puts it, she hasn't told me which type she has contracted. But when she does, I will go to some of the more user-friendly sites (I liked Susan G. Komen and The City of Hope) and start my detail searching there.

As the patient that's also the line of attack my co-hort has decided on. She wants to know the what-ifs, what-abouts and what are the closest support groups around her. As a single woman she fortunately has built up a very strong base of other single women to have nearby. Which is as necessary as it wonderful. However, she will probably also benefit from attending meetings of others who are "in the same boat".

I say this mainly from my own experience with a very different disease. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have been very fortunate to have a very supportive family base. My husband gives me my weekly injections. My grown children are more than willing to pitch in to help with a meal and laundry. I've learned to not be quite so controlling and let some of what I have always considered to be "my job" get farmed out to others who are more able-bodied. But what really helps are my two support friends. We've never actually met face to face, but we've known each other for over six years now and it's our cyber-connection that has seen us through some times that our families quite simply cannot understand! We met via a now defunct Rheumatoid Arthritis website

We are all 49. One married, no children. One single. And me. We share many things, all of which help us get through the bad days and make the good ones seem all the brighter. I cheered one lady on when she decided to take her hobby of painting and go professional. One cheered me on when I decided to rejuvenate my writing career after a 26 year hiatus. I was in the rooting sections when one went back to college to earn her degree. Both were online telling me that starting my ENBREL injections would put me back into a more "normal" routine and told me stories about their positive reactions and remissions due to the taking of stronger medications.

So while I am still going to have to work on becoming more knowledgeable on my friend's disease, I know one of the best things I can provide her with is a list of breast cancer support groups that she can contact and get involved with right away. Even if they will be an anonymous support group, they will give her invaluable comfort, and information that she would probably not receive from the medical community.

I am also hoping that when the new year begins, she finds a sense of strength and renewal that will be a positive outcome.

Breast cancer is one of the most frightening diseases faced by today’s women. In fact, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women, after nonmelanoma skin cancer. About 13% of American women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime. And, it is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, after lung cancer.

Scientists are continuing to look for new information to determine what causes breast cancer as well how to prevent and treat this disease. Today, we still don’t know what causes breast cancer, but we do understand some of the risk factors.

In addition, we have come a long way in treating breast cancer – though many women still die each year. Some of the research is very promising, including research on green tea.

One group of breast cancer sufferers who cause doctors a great area of concern are those who have a higher than average expression of the epidermal growth factor Her-2/neu. Her-2/neu is a growth factor that sometimes presents itself in a tumor. An over expression of this growth factor is a concern for breast cancer patients.

During routine testing of patients who have been recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, doctors will determine the level of Her-2/neu. If the level is high, this information is used to guide treatment. The level of this growth factor is important because studies have shown that patients with an over expression of Her-2/neu have a higher likelihood of their cancer metastasizing, and have an overall lower survival rate. The Her-2/neu is high in about 30% of breast cancer patients.

As part of the ongoing research to find effective treatments for breast cancer, scientists have been looking seriously at the benefits of green tea, both on preventing cancer and treating it. Asian cultures have used green tea for its healing properties for centuries, and their overall rate of cancer is much lower than that of the Western world.

Tea is derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. You’ll hear tea referred to as green, white or black. These differences do not result from actual different types of tea leaf, but rather from differences in how the tea leaves are processed. Green and white teas are not fermented during processing, but black tea goes through such a processing.

Tea leaves contain catechins, part of the flavan-3-ol class of flavonoids, which are anti-oxidants. EGCG is one of the catechins contained in tea, and is a potent anti-oxidant. Fermenting the tea leaves converts the catechins to other compounds that are not as healthy as those in unfermented tea. So, the focus of research has been on green tea, because of its healthier form of anti-oxidants.

What’s So Great About Anti-Oxidants?

During our body’s process of converting food to energy, we create free radicals in our body. These free radicals are damaging to our cells and DNA if we don’t combat them. Left unchecked, free radicals contribute to speeding up the aging process and to causing diseases such as cancer, heart attack and stroke.

Anti-oxidants, however, can help us combat these free radicals, and a diet in anti-oxidants is linked with preventing cancer, heart disease and stroke. So, doctors recommend a diet high in anti-oxidants – which means eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking green tea each day.

However, scientists also seem to be finding out that green tea may be able to increase the effectiveness in some cancer treatments. Several studies conducted on mice already diagnosed with cancer have shown that taking green tea along with the cancer treatments can increase the effectiveness of the traditional therapy and may slow down the progression of cancer to other cells. There is promising research; some of it directly related to breast cancer treatment.

One particular study of interest was conducted by the Boston University School of Medicine. In this study, female mice with breast cancer whose Her-2/neu levels were very high were treated with green tea along with their regular cancer treatment. Mice that ingested the green tea showed a slower growth of their tumors and a slower progression of their cancer than those who were treated with the same medicine without green tea as an adjunct therapy.

Researchers who found these results also believe that if green tea can inhibit the growth of tumors in patients already diagnosed with cancer, it may also be effective in preventing cancerous cells from forming and growing in the first place. This coincides with other research that indicates that green tea may be significant in preventing cancer. In addition, it helps explain why Asian cultures have such a low cancer incidence compared to the Western world.

This is very promising news for a group of breast cancer sufferers who have traditionally had a lower survival rate than others with breast cancer. If we can slow the rate of cancer progression in those with over expression of Her-2/neu to approximately the same rate as other breast cancer patients, we may be far more effective at treating these patients.

Far more research is needed in the area of breast cancer prevention and treatment. In addition, scientists will be spending more time examining the benefits of green tea in cancer prevention and treatment. But, it seems clear that green tea has a place in the prevention and treatment of many diseases, including cancer.

Even though there is more research to be done, there is no downside to adding green tea to your diet to help prevent disease or to improve your health if it is already failing. Scientists have found no risks involved with drinking green tea. It has no side effects, and is a healthy alternative to coffee because of its high level of anti-oxidants and because it is much lower in caffeine than coffee. So, get a jump start on your anti-oxidants by drinking green tea!

In the past few years, a number of women have turned to green vegetables in an effort to attempt to lower their risk of breast cancer. With the disease affecting as many as one in eight American women, it is only natural that women look to natural remedies in an attempt to improve their odds in the fight against this all-too-prevalent kind of cancer.

Increasingly, though, researchers are looking to another green food in an effort to cut breast cancer risk—green tea. While black tea and chamomile tea have long been thought to soothe nerves and combat depression, it is green tea which is making headlines in the world of cancer research.

A number of animal and laboratory studies have shown that green tea can be highly effective in fighting tumors in the mammary tissues. But only recently has the scientific community been able to address the effect of green tea on breast cancer in human beings.

A Case in Point

One significant study indicated that green tea extract prevents breast cancer cells from producing a chemical that leads to tumors. University of Southern California researcher Anna H. Wu and her team noted the dietary and lifestyle choices of more than 500 women with breast cancer and nearly 600 women without cancer in Los Angeles.

The women were of Asian descent and ranged in age from 25 to 74. The researchers found that the healthy women were far more likely to consume green tea. And those breast cancer patients who did drink green tea were likely to consume less of it than the healthy women were. In fact, drinking less than six tablespoons of green tea a day appeared to cut a woman’s risk for breast cancer by as much as 30 percent.

Unfortunately, women who consume a great deal of black tea do not appear to be protected from the onset of breast cancer. Since black tea is more popular in Western nations than green tea, such news can be disappointing. But the fact that green tea’s popularity is gaining strength in the West means that Western women could enjoy the same breast cancer protection that green tea drinkers in the Far East have enjoyed for years.

Green Tea and Breast Cancer Recurrence

But what about women who have already experienced breast cancer? Is it possible for them to reduce their chances of a recurrence by downing cups of green tea?

As you might expect, scientific researchers have been asking the same questions. For instance, a Japanese research team addressed those issues in their article, “Regular Consumption of Green Tea and the Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence: Follow-up Study from the Hospital-based Epidemiologic Research Program at Aichi Cancer Center (HERPACC), Japan.”

As the Asian researchers noted, various studies indicate that green tea can inhibit the development and growth of tumors. Given that fact, they thought it helpful to examine the link between regular green tea consumption and the risk of a recurrence of breast cancer.

The researchers studied 1160 new surgical cases of female breast cancers between June of 1990 and August of 1998. About 12 percent, or 133 of the subjects, appeared to experience a cancer recurrence. But those women who consumed three or more cups of green tea each day were less likely to see their breast cancer make a comeback.

The reduced rate of recurrence was most likely among those women with stage 1 and stage 2 breast cancer. However, the link was not apparent for those women with more advanced stages of the cancer.

Cautiously Optimistic

The researchers cautioned that these results need to be interpreted carefully. However, they do suggest that breast cancer patients who drink green tea daily may be able to prevent their cancer from returning—especially if their cancer was diagnosed in the early stages. Therefore, the research team has reason to be cautiously optimistic about the cancer-fighting capabilities of green tea.

A Closer Look at Green Tea

In order to fully understand the potential of green tea as a cancer prevention method, it is first necessary to examine the composition of the beverage. There are a number of compounds that make up green tea, including polyphenols and flavonoids, caffeine, carbohydrates, tannins, fluoride, and aluminum.

As far as cancer prevention is concerned, the most critical substance is the polyphenols—chemicals which act as antioxidants. These substances block cell replication enzymes and therefore prevent the growth of cancer in the process.

In a number of studies, researchers gave rats with breast tumors green tea to consume. These rats were then compared with rats which drank water alone. Interestingly enough, the rats which had been drinking green tea saw their tumor size reduced considerably. In addition, the studies indicated that new tumors were less likely to develop in rats which drank green tea.

How Much is Enough?

Still, you might be wondering how much green tea you would need to consume in order to significantly reduce your risk of developing breast cancer. Generally, doctors say that you need to consume at least three to four cups of green tea each day—without additives such as milk or sugar—in order to see an impact.

Does decaffeinated green tea offer the same health benefits? Actually, that depends upon the manner in which the caffeine has been removed from the tea. If a solvent has been used to decaffeinate the tea, it will contain reduced levels of EGCG, lessening its effectiveness as a cancer prevention tool. You might also consider taking your green tea in capsule form, although there is little hard evidence to indicate that the capsules are as effective as the beverage in cutting cancer risk.

A Final Note

A woman who has experienced breast cancer has no guarantees that her cancer will never reappear. Even if she begins drinking green tea, she might still undergo a recurrence. However, the available evidence suggests that her risk of facing a second bout of breast cancer decreases significantly when she becomes a green tea drinker.

Women today are more concerned than ever about preventing breast cancer. There is much speculation about how our lifestyle and habits affect our chances of contracting this and other cancers. Well, there are many risk factors that can make you more prone to breast cancer, but there are also things you can do to prevent breast cancer.

First, it’s important to have a healthy diet. Avoiding processed foods and eating a diet that is low in saturated fats and high in fruits, vegetables and fish. These foods can keep your weight in check and protect your health by providing vitamins and fiber.

In addition to these foods being healthy and fiber rich, they also provide significant ant-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are extremely important to slowing down the aging process and preventing disease.

Each day as our body converts food to energy, it creates oxygen carrying molecules called free radicals. If free radicals are not eliminated from the body, they damage our cells and our DNA. This cell damage is partially responsible for a multitude of diseases, including cancer.

Anti-oxidants are important because they rid the body of free radicals. Since free radicals are created daily, they should be eliminated daily, too. But, because our diets have become so laden with processed food, many of us don’t consume enough anti-oxidants each day.

So, protecting our health means we have to make changes in our lifestyle. Watching what we eat and drink can put us in the best position to combat aging as it creeps up on us.

While you’re taking stock of what’s in your pantry, don’t forget to include looking at what you drink. You need a good dose of anti-oxidants each day, and many of us just don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables to get our daily requirement.

Well, it turns out that drinking tea and coffee can be a great way to increase your anti-oxidants and improve your health- particularly your resistance to breast cancer. There have been many studies that have reported the benefits of green tea, but one recent study suggested that there may be benefits to drinking black tea and coffee, too.

The study I’m referring to was conducted at the Gifu School of Medicine in Japan. The study was conducted on pre-menopausal women. This study looked at the hormone level of 50 Japanese women during different days of their menstrual cycle. They found that in women who consumed tea, coffee and even caffeinated cola had a higher level of the sex hormone binding globulin on critical days of their cycle than the women who did not consume these beverages.

Why Is This Important?

The level of binding globulin is important because low levels of this hormone in pre-menopausal women have been associated with a higher risk of developing breast cancer. So, it appears that drinking your daily intake of caffeine may help your body produce a higher level of binding globulin and help protect you from breast cancer.

Which of These Beverages Should I Drink?

In this particular study, researchers found no difference in the binding globulin level between those who drank coffee, tea or even cola. It seemed to be the consumption of caffeinated beverages of any kind that caused the level of binding globulin to rise.

However, many other studies have shown that in addition to having caffeine, green tea has many other health protecting qualities, as well. Remember how important we just said that anti-oxidants are to our diet? Well, it just so happens that green tea has an extraordinary level of very potent anti-oxidants. Black tea and coffee have anti-oxidants, too; but nothing to compare to the level and potency you’ll find in green tea. (Cola, by the way, does not contain anti-oxidants.)

Though green and black tea both come from the camellia sinensis plant, green tea is healthier because of the way it’s processed. Black tea is fermented, which changes the structure of the anti-oxidants, making them less effective and potent. Green tea is not fermented (nor is white), so it retains anti-oxidants in their most natural and potent state.

And, for those of you who might be sensitive to caffeine; you’ll be happy to know that green tea has less caffeine than coffee or black tea. But, clearly it has enough caffeine to increase your level of binding globulin sufficiently. Remember, the study cited above showed no difference between green tea drinkers and other caffeinated beverage drinkers in terms of the level of binding globulin.

Making Changes You Can Continue

So, if you’re interested in reducing your breast cancer risk, you need to make some changes to your lifestyle to help protect your health. Watch your diet; be sure you’re getting the recommended amount of fresh fruits and vegetables each day.

You should also be sure to add some sort of caffeinated beverage to your diet, if you’re not already drinking some. And, to boost both your anti-oxidants and get your caffeine at the same time, make that beverage green tea.

Make lifestyle changes that you can commit to- otherwise you’ll be unlikely to keep up with them. It might not be realistic for you to say that you’re going to immediately increase your intake of vegetables from none each day to five servings. But, if you can consistently eat two servings each day, then you’ve still made an improvement. And, perhaps later you can work up to five servings.

Small changes over time are the best way to ensure that you’ll continue your new healthy habits. Reduce your number of processed foods and increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and green tea slowly over time. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed and be tempted to quit.

Smoking can also increase your risk for cancer. We all know that smoking makes us likely candidates for lung cancer, but what many people don’t know is that smoking increases your overall risk for cancer. Smoke is toxic to your body, and can increase your risk of any cancer, including breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the US. This year, over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and over 40,000 will die from it.** It pays to understand how to protect your health and reduce your risk of contracting this disease.

Have you ever wondered why so many women and men get breast cancer? After much research there are 3 main reasons why and how people get it.

1. At the cancer institute they discovered that 100% of all breast cancer patients, none of them have iodine in their systems. The most enriched form of Iodine is seaweed. With all of the sushi sales in the past few years more and more people are eating seaweed so that will help a lot.

2. Deodorant is a major factor also. Try to only buy deodorants that contain no aluminum. You are rubbing aluminum into your arm pits daily, and that metal is good for no one ever! Only get deodorants that say deodorant and if it says antiperspirant then never buy it.

Try not to cook with aluminum, throw away any Teflon pans that you own - and only use iron pans.

3. If you get pregnant then please nurse your baby if you are able. Try to nurse for at least 6 months. It is healthy for the baby and it will greatly reduce your risk for getting breast cancer. Studies show that longer you nurse the less likely you are to get it.

So take care of your body and eat right. Drink lots of water at least 8 glasses a day, and no sodas. Try not to let your body get too stressed out and all will be well with you. And most importantly eat as much sushi as you can keep down- yummy!

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, second only to lung cancer. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. Fortunately, there are measures you can take to help reduce your risk of developing breast cancer.

Factors that can affect your risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer are called risk factors. Risk factors can be broken down into two categories, those that can be controlled and those that cannot be controlled.

RISK FACTORS THAT CANNOT BE CONTROLLED

The risk factors you have no control over are gender, hormones, age, genetic makeup and certain environmental exposures.

GENDER: Women are much more inclined to develop breast cancer than men. This is primarily due to the estrogen and progesterone in a woman’s body. These hormones stimulate cell growth in the breast, both normal and abnormal.

HORMONES: Estrogen, a hormone that is produced by the ovaries, increases a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer. A woman's exposure to estrogen can increase her risk by:

*using oral contraceptives.

*using Hormone Replacement Therapy.

*never being pregnant or having first child after the age of 35.

*early onset of menstruation and late onset of menopause.

AGE: Aging is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer. After a woman passes the age of 50, the likelihood of developing breast cancer increases significantly.

GENETIC MAKEUP: There is a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer for women who have already had breast cancer and for women who have had many family members diagnosed with cancer (regardless of the type).

ENVIRONMENT: The air we breathe and the water we drink are full of toxins (poisons) that were not present 100 years ago. Many of these toxins are known to increase the risk of or directly cause cancer.

RISK FACTORS THAT CAN BE CONTROLLED

Lifestyle changes like altering your diet, starting an exercise program and losing weight, are the easiest factors to control. Following the tips below may help you decrease your risk of breast cancer:

LOSE WEIGHT: There is a clear link between excess weight and breast cancer, especially if the weight gain is after menopause. The extra fatty tissue is a source of circulating estrogen in your body. As stated above in the GENDER risk factor, estrogen stimulates cell growth in the breast.

EAT THE RIGHT FOODS: A low-fat high-fiber diet can help reduce your risk of breast cancer and other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Try to eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day.

There are also some specific foods and supplements that can be very effective in your efforts to reduce the risk of breast cancer:

*FLAXSEED: Flaxseed is a supplement comprised of phytoestrogens, naturally occurring compounds that decrease estrogen production in your body, hindering the growth of breast cancer.

*OLIVE OIL: Olive oil contains oleic acid that is effective in destroying a protein that causes the growth of breast cancer tumors.

*FISH OIL: A diet rich in fish oils can be effective in preventing the development of breast tumors. Fish oil supplements are just as effective as eating the fish. Fish oil, like flaxseed, contains healthy OMEGA-3 fatty acids.

*CARROTS: Consuming foods rich in beta-carotene, such as carrots, protects the body from damaging molecules called free radicals. Free radicals cause damage to cells through oxidation that can lead to a variety of chronic illnesses such as cancer.

*FOLIC ACID: (folate) is highly effective in preventing breast cancer in both pre- and post-menopausal women. Foods high in folic acid are green, leafy vegetables, whole wheat bread, oranges, poultry, and fortified cereals.

LIMIT ALCOHOL: The more alcohol a woman drinks, the higher the risk of developing breast cancer. If you must drink, limit your intake to one small drink a day.

EXERCISE: Regular exercise provides a multitude of health benefits for your body including protection against many chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Exercising at least 30 minutes every day can decrease your hormone levels, lowering your risk of breast cancer.

There is nothing you can do that will guarantee a cancer-free life. All women are at risk for getting breast cancer. However, lifestyle changes, eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, and regular breast cancer screening can significantly reduce your risk of developing breast cancer.

Being excessively overweight and eating foods rich in fats are both possible risk factors for developing breast cancer. Excessive exposure of the breasts to X-rays or other forms of radiation increases the likelihood that cancer cells will develop and there is some evidence linking a higher risk of breast cancer with long-term use of replacement oestrogens - the hormones given to woman to replace those lost during menopause - although the data is not conclusive.

The role of oral contraceptives in increasing breast cancer risk is even less clear. Some studies, in fact, seem to indicate that the combined pill may actually reduce a woman's chance of developing breast cancer. Contrary to popular belief, failure to breast-feed does not increase the risk of breast cancer; nor, on the other hand, is breast-feeding a protective factor. Risk factors such as obesity and high fat intake are avoidable, but there are also unavoidable risks including age (after 45, the risk of developing breast cancer increases); previous breast cancer; a history of breast cancer in your mother or sister; early onset and late ending of menstruation; and not having had children or having them after the age of 30.

Although you may fall into a high-risk group, remember the chances are that you will probably never get breast cancer. Whether you fall into the high-risk group or not, regular check-ups are your best defence. Doing something about it could save your life.

Any out-of-the-ordinary change in appearance, texture, feel or function of your breast should be considered a symptom, however tentative and you should report it to your doctor immediately. Do not panic, but do not waste any time either. Most changes, such as the appearance of lumps, turn out to be non-cancerous. However, you should be particularly alert to three types of changes: a lump or thickening of tissue inside the breast, a change in the shape of any part of the breast and any fluid that comes from the nipple.

Depending on the symptom, your doctor will examine you and order tests to determine whether the sign indicates the presence of breast cancer or, more likely, is caused by something else. Minor surgery in the form of a biopsy may be necessary, but most doctors will not perform one unless a preliminary examination indicates that cancer may be present. If there is any doubt in the mind of your doctor, he will probably refer you to a specialist who may check the interior of your breast without actually using a needle or knife. The most common way of doing this is by taking a mammogram (a breast X-ray). If the mammogram reveals a suspicious spot, then a biopsy will most likely be the next step. A biopsy can be performed in one of two ways: a hollow needle may be passed into the breast to extract fluid containing cells, or the specialist may use a knife to remove a small or large portion of tissue. The first method is called an aspiration biopsy, the second is known as a surgical biopsy. An aspiration biopsy will be done either in the specialist's surgery or in the outpatient's department of a local hospital with a local anaesthetic. A surgical biopsy is usually done in a hospital and will take more time.

The simplest way to remove a breast cancer surgically is by an operation that is often called a lumpectomy. In this procedure, which is usually performed in conjunction with radiotherapy, the surgeon removes the tumour and a small amount of tissue around it, but leaves the skin over it in place. The most extensive procedure is the radical mastectomy - the total removal of the breast along with underlying chest muscles and the axillary lymph nodes in the adjoining armpit. Today, radical mastectomies to remove breast cancer are done much less often than previously even though some surgeons still believe that they offer the best chance of total eradication of the disease.

Many women are hesitant to take hormone replacement because they fear that it will increase their chances of developing breast cancer. Up to this time, after so much medical research, this remains a complicated and controversial issue, especially as we are talking about the most common cancer in the Western world. Statistical data shows that breast cancer affects one in every thirteen women by the age of seventy-five and one in eight women who have a family history of this disease. In some cancerous tumors, a substance known as estrogen receptor is present, which means the possibility that cancer may be promoted by estrogen therapy.

The incidence of breast cancer continues to rise progressively throughout life, so one certainly would not want to do anything during midlife that might further increase this risk. Women who are most at risk of developing breast cancer include those who have never given birth or who are over thirty when they had their first children, obese women, women who went through puberty early, or went through menopause late (after the age of forty-four) and those with a family history of breast cancer. A common feature among these factors is a prolonged and constant exposure to estrogen from the ovaries. Women who consume high fat and low fiber diets have high blood levels of estrogen than women on low-fat, high-fiber diets and they also have much higher incidence of breast cancer, so it seems that we have yet another possible link between estrogen and breast cancer.

Notwithstanding these theoretical indications, however, of almost thirty studies determining the correlation between estrogen replacement and breast cancer, the majority have failed to indicate a definitive for or against this form of treatment. Data is contradictory in that studies linking estrogen therapy to breast cancer also show that women on estrogen who developed breast cancer had survival rates that were significantly better than that of women not on estrogen.

Although studies that show an increased risk of breast cancer are only population studies that surveyed women on hormone replacement therapy, rather than rigorously designed clinical trials comparing the experience of a group of women taking this treatment than a group taking a placebo, they still should make a doctor cautious about prescribing a high dose or prolonged use of estrogen replacement therapy to a woman with a known high risk of breast cancer. In such a case, if estrogen therapy is deemed extremely necessary, it is wise to use smaller or intermittent doses of estrogen replacement therapy. This is reassuring for women who want to take estrogen replacement for only a short time.

All in all, with hormone replacement therapy of less than five years' duration, there is no increase in the incidence of breast cancer. The incidence may increase after ten to fifteen years of hormone replacement and this increase appears to be approximately 30 percent. Furthermore, while it appears that the incidence of breast cancer may increase with long term hormone substitution, women who get breast cancer while on hormone therapy are less likely to die from the disease.

How does an average woman react to the terrifying diagnosis of breast cancer? Many women go through several psychological steps in learning how to deal with breast cancer.

First, there is shock. Particularly when you're relatively young and have never had a life-threatening illness before; it's hard to believe you have something as serious as cancer. It's all the more difficult to believe because, in most cases, your body hasn't given you any warning at all. Unlike, for example, appendicitis or a heart attack, there's no pain or fever or nausea - no symptom that tells you something is going wrong inside. You or your doctor have found this painless little lump, or your routine mammogram shows something peculiar - and the next thing you know, your doctor is telling you you've got breast cancer. Many women say this is the worst part of the journey. The initial shock can leave you feeling confused and not sure how to proceed. Along with the shock, there's a feeling of anger at your body, which has betrayed you in such an underhanded fashion. In spite of the horror that you feel at the thought of losing your breast, often your first reaction is a desire to get rid of it.

While this is a perfectly understandable emotional response, it's not one you should act on. Getting your breast cut off will not make things go back to normal; your life has been changed and it will never be the same again. You need time to let this sink in, to face the implications cancer has for you and to make a rational, informed decision about what treatment will be best for you both physically and emotionally.

Today there's much more emphasis on doctor and patient sharing the decision making process and there are more options to choose from. There's also a lot more knowledge available - there are manuscripts about breast cancer and its survival rates in both the medical and the popular press and on the internet.

So if the first stage is shock, the second is investigating your options. It is very important to reflect seriously on what the possibility of losing a breast would mean to you. Its importance varies from woman to woman, but there is no woman for whom it doesn't have some significance. Although many women will say, "I don't care about my breast", deep down this is probably not true for most of us. A mastectomy may be the best choice for you, but it will still have a powerful effect on how you feel about yourself. For many women, the loss of a breast can mean feelings of inadequacy.

Several studies have been done comparing conservative surgery and mastectomy with or without immediate breast reconstruction, looking for differences in psychological adjustment. Interesting enough, the important factor often appears to be the match between the woman and her treatment. That is, the way she feels about her body, about surgery, about radiotherapy, about having a part in the decision making process of her treatment and about a multitude of factors affects how she reacts to this new and enormous stress.

Along with the fears and stages of recovery, there are also a number of related issues that come up for people with cancer. One of these is the tendency to feel quilt for having cancer - a sense that you've somehow done something wrong. People have a tendency to blame themselves for being ill anyway and a woman will often feel she's betrayed her function as a caregiver by getting breast cancer.

For many women breast cancer never returns and they begin gradually to rebuild their lives. But sometimes, cancer does return. The emotional issues of breast cancer recurrence are so profound and complex that, if you do have a reappearance of the cancer, you may need the help of a mental health professional.

For the women diagnosed with breast cancer resulting depression is easy to understand. Breast cancer is a very scary and life altering event. It would be surprising if some depression didn't occur. But the thought of depression being a possible cause of breast cancer seems out of the question. The findings may surprise you.

Some studies and research have been done to indicate a link between depression and breast cancer. Some of the medical community agrees with the results indicating that there is in fact a link between depression and breast cancer. Still others feel there should be more studies performed to completely prove the link.

Some reports indicate that women suffering from depression are two to four times as likely to develop breast cancer as those with no depression. No such link exists between other types of cancer.

Possible Causes

How can breast cancer be related to depression?

The answers are varied. Different researcher and medical professionals have differing opinions. It depends on which medical community to interview. Some are further investigating the mind-body link for developing breast cancer.

Some scientists have come up with a possible cause being a hormonal link. This belief centers on stress hormones that may be elevated with depression.

Another possible hormonal link involving estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone as women with depression can also have imbalances with these hormones. Women with severe depression have unbalanced levels of these hormones.

Still another theory involves medication prescribed for depression. They seem to think there's the possibility of breast cancer being caused by immune system suppression caused by increased stress hormones and certain antidepressants as tumor promoters.

While there have been no final and conclusive decisions made about the possible link between depression and breast cancer there are enough statistics pointing to this link that further studies are well warranted. Is there any way for a woman with depression to prevent this possible link form occurring?

At this point there are no strong recommendations. If you do have depression, make sure to seek medical help. Getting control of your depression can help to keep stress hormones and other body functions in good shape.

Make sure to get regular check-ups and mammograms. Self-test at least once a month.

If you find any abnormalities get it checked immediately. Early detection of breast cancer is a primary factor in cancer elimination and survival rates.