Lynda Wharton Naturopath Acupuncturist Writer

It’s October again.  That means we will be washed away in a sea of pink… pink sky tower, pink lapel ribbons, pink t-shirts.  Our pink overdose all in the name of supposedly saving women from breast cancer.  The funds raised to go towards more research into this disease… it’s early detection and “cure” through western medicine.

While the intention of reducing the suffering of women and their families yet to be effected by this terrible disease is indeed noble, it never fails to engender a huge bucket loads of frustration and cynicism for me.

I am frustrated by the almost exclusive citation of the “early detection” mantra… and the glaring absence of real information on the subject of breast cancer PREVENTION.  This frustration which peaks around this time of the year, every year, is a big part of my decision to write my latest book, “Wellbeing”.  The hundred pages I have devoted to the subject of breast cancer, is all about what we know about prevention, and making different choices on a daily basis, for our future breast health.

The truth is there is much we have yet to discover about what triggers the development of breast cancer…. but there is much we already know, or strongly suspect about how our lifestyle and environment play a part in its development.  We’re starting to realise that lowering our breast cancer incidence is not as simple as just teaching adult women a healthier way of living.  The relatively new science of epigenetics suggests that lowering our risk involves teaching women about diet, nutrition and a clean environment while they are pregnant, in order to lower the future risk of their yet unborn child.  Our maternal responsibility doesn’t stop there – the diet a baby girl is exposed to as she grows from infancy to womanhood may well play a significant part in switching on the genes which allow the uncontrolled breast cell division of breast cancer.

I feel especially frustrated when I hear the hundreds of millions of dollars of money poured into breast cancer research, alongside the deafening silence from the breast cancer elite, surrounding the subject of environmental toxicity.  Instead of spending hundreds of millions on the next great way of detecting breast cancer early, what about spending some of that money cleaning up the toxic environment we live in.

Many of the chemicals routinely used in agriculture and industry are potent endocrine disrupters.  They are chemicals which even in trace amounts are able to disrupt our hormonal system.  Some of these chemicals are also frank carcinogens.  Women are especially at risk from endocrine disrupters.  We absorb them more easily then men, and once in our body, they take up residence in our greater mass of fat tissue (including breasts), and stay there indefinitely.

Our supposedly “clean, green” New Zealand in fact caries a shameful legacy of environmental pollution. As an agricultural country, our use of endocrine disrupting agricultural chemicals is high.  Only last year we finally banned the use of the powerful endocrine disrupting herbicide Endosulfan.  This is a chemical banned for decades in other countries because of its known ability to disrupt the hormonal system, and potentially lead to the development of cancer.

I could go on for hours on this subject.  It makes me very hot under the collar!  So this October, I may well not be wearing a pink ribbon in my lapel, but you can bet I will be out there speaking, teaching, writing, and letting women know the truth about what they can do to help themselves.

To Your Wellbeing…

Lynda Wharton

lynda@lyndawharton.com
www.lyndawharton.com

Tags: breast cancer prevention

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In the past week the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil has been in the New Zealand news again.  I watched the six o’clock news a few nights ago as Dr Karen Poutassi from the Ministry of Health reassured New Zealand women that this vaccine is extremely safe.  She smiled and told us that side effects reported following Gardasil shots were mostly mild; and young girls fainting after their shot, merely the result of seeing a whopping great needle coming their way. 

And what of the 47 deaths in other parts of the world, which have occurred in the days or weeks following Gardasil vaccine? Apparently,  they are coincidental, and impossible to connect with the vaccine. 

 
As a health practitioner, writer and health researcher who has followed the Gardasil campaign with growing concern, I strongly believe women should make an INFORMED choice whether or not to vaccinate themselves or their daughters with this vaccine.  That means knowing a whole lot more than the smooth PR patter dished out in the consent forms finding their way home in backpacks around the land.

Putting aside the issue of whether or not this vaccine will ultimately prove effective in preventing cervical cancer, let’s take a look simply at the safety profile of this drug.

In America the Gardasil campaign has been running much longer than in New Zealand, and much larger numbers of women have been vaccinated, so it’s worth looking at their experience. 

 
Adverse effects from vaccines are reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System or VAERS.   It’s worth noting that it’s estimated that somewhere between 1 and 10% of vaccine adverse reactions are actually reported to VAERS.  To date, VAERS has received over 16,000 Gardasil related reports, including 47 deaths. 

Blood clots seem to figure highly in the post vaccine deaths, over half of them in the first week following vaccination.  While we are assured that these deaths are not associated with Gardasil, and merely coincidental, it’s hard not to question this reassurance when you read the details of the dead women. 

How often do healthy, strong, fit 11 and 12 year olds suddenly die of a blood clot?  These are girls with no pre-existing health conditions… not on the pill, and not smoking…. Suddenly dying from a blood clot?  It’s virtually unheard of…. Until Gardasil arrived on the scene.

 
I have been fascinated with the results of a new study by the National Vaccine Information Centre.  This American organisation accessed all the VAERS data for Gardasil and another vaccine called Menactra (a meningitis vaccine), which is administered to girls (and boys) in the same age bracket as Gardasil, through school vaccination programs.   If, as we are told, the faintings, neurological and cardiovascular symptoms we’re seeing after Gardasil vaccine, are merely coincidental, then it follows that we would see roughly the same incidence of VAERS reports with Menactra, as with Gardasil…. Right? 

 
WRONG. 

 
Compared with reported incidents after Menactra vaccination, Gardasil vaccination resulted in:

*twice as many emergency room visits

*seven times as many “disabled” reports

*five times more “did not recover” reports

*four times more deaths

*twenty three times more blood clots (none associated with Menectra)

*four times as many cardiac arrest reports

*six times as many fainting reports

*fifteen times as many strokes

*thirty three times as many thrombosis reports

 
It is highly unusual for there to be such a big discrepancy between two vaccines used in the same population, involving serious and relatively rare life threatening adverse events.  Based on their research the National Vaccine Information Centre has warned that Gardasil appears to be highly reactive.  They have asked for federal health agencies to inform physicians and parents about serious health problems associated with the new vaccine.

Do not be panicked into believing that cervical cancer will kill your daughter if she doesn’t have this vaccine.  The truth is that the incidence of cervical cancer is greatly in the decline in the west, and even before Gardasil, cervical cancer was a largely preventable disease.  This is usually a very slow growing cancer which can be readily detected and treated at its “pre-cancerous” stage through a standard pap smear. 

In countries which introduced routine pap smears in the 1950’s there has been a 75% reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer up until 1992.  Since then cervical cancer rates have continued to decline by almost 4% annually.  In countries with a high screening rate, cervical cancer accounts for less than 1 to 2% of all diagnosed cancer.

 
In New Zealand around 160 cases are diagnosed annually, with a death rate of around 60 women per year. (that’s about 2.5 cases per 100,000 women).  Most of these women would have lived if their cancer had been caught in the early precancer stages, through regular pap smears.  While it’s true that occasionally extremely aggressive cervical cancer can grow and kill in the two to three year gap between smears, this is rare.  Remember too that we already know the ways in which our daughters can protect themselves from cervical cancer. These include:

 
*having regular pap smears once they become sexually active

*Being a non-smoker

*practicing safe sex using condoms

*limiting the number of sexual partners

*eating a nutritious diet containing plenty of antioxidants, folate and selenium.

So when you open your daughters backpack and the glossy consent form falls out, pause a while… a long while, to consider your options.  This is an important decision.  Why not make it your job to ensure that if you sign on the dotted line, it truly is an INFORMED consent, based not just on the glossy PR schmooze, but a carefully considered look at both sides of the Gardasil debate. 

Remember too, that you have the option of watchful waiting; delaying your decision to vaccinate, while listening a little longer to the growing tide of concern from women, women’s health advocates, scientists, researchers and doctors from around the world.

 
Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com

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Female hormonal imbalance has reached almost epidemic proportions in the Western world. PMS, irregular or heavy periods, absent periods, endometriosis and infertility blight the lives of increasing numbers of women in their reproductive years.

The most common solution to female hormone imbalance is to impose artificial balance by using the Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill. While this may seemingly offer a solution, it comes with an array of minor and sometimes major side effects. Taking the pill to remedy hormone imbalance, fails to address any of the underlying physical, mental and emotional imbalances which often lay at the root of hormone imbalance.

Holistic healing addresses causal imbalance rather than merely treating symptoms. So what are the common causes of female hormone imbalance, and what can you do to really remedy the problem?

The main organs involved in balancing a woman’s hormones are the hypothalamus (a tiny organ in the brain), the pituitary gland and the ovaries. The hypothalamus is like the conductor in the hormonal orchestra, directing the pituitary gland to start the hormonal process which in turn stimulates ovarian function. This interaction can be negatively effected by long term or intense emotional or physical stress, irregular sleep patterns, nutritional deficiency, excessive consumption of alcohol, cigarette smoking, obesity or underweight, amongst others.

For many women, remedying hormonal imbalance involves a “whole life” approach including stress management, dietary change, exercise, along with specific corrective therapies such as acupuncture, homoeopathy, herbal remedies etc.

The typical western diet is far from “hormone friendly”. For example PMS, dysmenorrhea (period pain) and endometriosis are all aggravated by the typical high saturated fat consumption. If you consume red meat regularly, drink your two glasses of milk a day, or eat cheeses, fried foods, takeaways etc regularly, you could be causing some of your hormonal problems.

An overabundance of saturated fats stimulates your body to produce an inflammatory prostaglandin (local hormone) which worsens these conditions. Try cutting down on saturated fats while increasing your intake of monounsaturates such as olive oil, flax seed oil, canola oil and avocados. This way your body produces a anti-inflammatory prostaglandins which will reduce your PMS, period pain or endometriosis. Supplementing with Evening Primrose Oil will also stimulate this change in prostaglandin production.

Other quick fix nutritional changes for hormonal health? Reduce your meat intake, and wherever possible buy organic meats which have not been fattened with estrogen. Eat more fish especially salmon, herrings, pilchards; Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables which are high in soluble fibre, and help reduce excessive levels of circulating estrogen which aggravate endometriosis and PMS.

Stay away from the wine bottle and other alcohol. Make alcohol a once or twice a week treat rather than a nightly accompanyment to dinner. This has a great impact on PMS, especially fluid retention and breast tenderness.; reduce your caffeine intake by drinking herbal teas or water decaffeinated tea and coffee. Caffeine increases excretion of many of the hormone friendly nutrients including B vitamins and magnesium. It is also a stimulant which will aggravate tension and irritability symptoms of PMS.

“Phytoestrogens” have become almost a nutritional panacea for hormonal health of late. Phytoestrogens are plant based estrogen like substances which are approximately a thousand times weaker than the estrogen produced in your own body.

Many female hormonal problems are thought to be caused or aggravated by excessive exposure to environmental estrogen or estrogen like substances (collectively known as xenoestrogens. We ingest these substances through agricultural sprays used on our food; through plastics we use in the home every day such as plastic kettles and food containers and even cling film we wrap our food in.

We can limit our exposure to xenoestrogens by using organic foods wherever possible, and by avoiding plastics in the home. We can also increase our bodily resistance through eating a diet high in phytoestrogens. When we ingest these estrogen like substances they fit into the estrogen receptor sites on our cells, effectively filling the site and making it unavailable for much stronger potentially toxic estrogens. This process is thought to explain the cancer protective effect of phytoestrogens. Increasing phytoestrogens in your diet can also reduce PMS and endometriosis symptoms, and help support the transition through menopause when the body’s production of estrogen slowly declines.

Boost phytoestrogens by stocking up on soy milk, tofu, flax seed oil and linseed (try delicious soy and linseed bread), apples, oats, carrots, pulses and legumes, alfalfa sprouts. Try drinking red clover tea daily. Phytoestrogen rich herbs include black cohosh, motherwort, licorice, burdock, wild yam and dong quai.

Take a look at the balance in your life. Female hormones are all about rhythm, flux and balance. Do your hormones mimic your life… chaotic? If the answer is yes, take some time to find ways of reducing stress. Take up tai chi or yoga, practice meditation daily, or simply make time for quiet contemplation in a busy world. Try journal keeping, affirmations, visualisations… whatever it takes to bring harmony back to your life and hormones

Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com

Tags: Hormones, The pill

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Why have breast cancer rates risen dramatically in western countries in the past thirty years? Is it possible that the humble trace element iodine could have anything to do with our skyrocketing breast cancer rates which now see 1 in 10 Australian women and 1 in 9 New Zealand women diagnosed?

There is significant evidence that abnormal thyroid function (especially under functioning) may increase our risk of breast cancer. Iodine is the trace element vital for a healthy thyroid. Breast cancer patients are much more likely to also suffer from an enlarged thyroid (goitre) than women without breast cancer, and this condition is often caused by iodine deficiency. Iodine levels in the breast tissue of breast cancer patients are very low compared with levels in healthy breasts. While a definitive causal link between breast cancer and thyroid disease (and iodine deficiency) is yet to be proven, there is evidence to suggest such a link may exist.

Lab rats are fed a carcinogenic chemical to induce breast cancer. This is almost 100% effective at inducing breast tumours. Interestingly, when these rats are fed iodine rich lugols solution, before they are exposed to the carcinogen, many of the rats fail to develop breast cancer; and those that do take much longer to develop breast tumours.

Japanese women have one of the lowest breast cancer rates in the world, and yet when they move to western countries they assume the much higher risk of their new country within a generation. One possible explanation is the change in their dietary iodine intake.

Seaweed is a Japanese dietary staple, supplying the average Japanese woman with a high iodine count of around 12mg a day. Contrast this with the pitiful 240mcg a day consumed by the average american woman, and 150mcg or less for Australian and New Zealand women. (1000mcg equates to one mg).

In our corner of the world, iodine deficiency is a widespread and growing health concern. Much of the soil in both Australia and new Zealand is lacking in the trace element iodine, and so the fruits, vegetables and grains grown on the land are also lacking in iodine.

Until the 1980′s iodine was literally a part of our daily bread, as it was used as a dough conditioner. From the 80′s bakers stopped using iodine, replacing it with the dough conditioner bromide, which actually competes for absorption with iodine in the thyroid gland.

Our milk used to contain significant amounts of iodine as a result of the iodine disinfectants used in the milk vats. Iodine disinfectants have now been replaced with chlorine, and dairy content of this iodine has also plummeted.

Iodised salt used to be found on every dinner table. With the health message that salt increases blood pressure, many of us having stopped salting our food. Even those of us who still “salt” often buy uniodised salt and thus miss out this source of iodine.

Even with a balanced diet it is difficult to get enough dietary iodine without supplementing, or making a special effort to include seaweed in your diet. Richest dietary sources of iodine are eggs, fish, shellfish, seaweed (including kelp and nori) and iodised salt. The Recommended Daily Allowance of iodine for adults is 150mcg a day, which many consider to be far too low when you consider that the Japanese women with a very low breast cancer incidence routinely eat 12mg of iodine in their daily diet. It is not advisable to supplement with iodine without the guidance of a health professional.

Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com

Tags: Breast Cancer, Nutrition

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So many of my patients are working women with children. Launching the family into the day can be one of the most stressful times in the entire day, and many women end up rushing out the door without breakfast, or fuelled by an inadequate bowl of high carb, low nutrient fast food cereal.“speed“ breakfasting, here is a quick, easy, delicious and nutritious option. including: Wholegrain muesli – preferably an unsweetened untoasted wholegrain muesli. Steer clear of toasted muesli as it is usually loaded with fat, sugar and calories. If you’re using a commercial muesli, increase nutrient content by adding some raw nuts and seeds such as almonds, sunflower, pumpkin and cashew nuts. This will increase the protein and essential fatty acid content of your muesli, and sustain your blood sugar for longer. In the winter months why not try a bowl of wholegrain oat porridge. To increase fibre content, or to help lower cholesterol levels add a dessertspoon or two of oat bran to the mix.

Breakfast is one of the first things I ask my patients to pay attention to when they start overhauling their diet. If you’re weight conscious you may be consciously deciding to skip this meal to earn yourself some calories for later in the day… and hopefully loose some kilos to boot. Here is a double whammy of bad news! Not only will you be starving by the time you get to work, and battling with low blood sugar through the morning, you also wont lose any weight. In fact, quite the contrary. Studies show that skipping breakfast almost always makes you binge on high energy carbs later in the day, resulting in a greater calorie intake than if you had eaten breakfast. Skipping meals like this also lowers your basal metabolic rate (the number of calories your body burns to just stay alive), and makes you more likely to lay down energy as body fat instead of burning it as energy. New research out last year also found that breakfast skippers are also more likely to catch colds!

Have I convinced you to eat breakfast yet? If so, you’ll be wondering exactly what you should be eating. Ideally breakfast is a meal combining complex (slow energy release) carbohydrates, proteins and some health fats. Remembering that we’re talking about

Superboost the nutrient and cancer fighting properties of your breakfast by adding two rounded teaspoons of ground flax (linseed). Grind up a weeks worth in your coffee grinder or food processor and keep it in an airtight glass jar in the fridge. Once ground, linseed goes off very quickly, so I always recommend you grind no more than a weeks worth at a time. Flax is high in lignans, a type of phytoestrogen. Research suggests that lignans may help to prevent hormonal breast cancer in several different ways. The essential fatty acids they contain are also great for your cardiovascular system. Breakfast time is also a great opportunity to have one or two of your five or more daily servings or fruits and vegetables. Chop up fresh fruit on your cereal, or simply open a tin of fruit canned in its own juice. To start the day with a massive antioxidant boost add a half cup of berries to your cereal (frozen berries are fine). Choose from blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and boysenberries. Accompany with a glass of fresh orange or berry juice and you’re ready to power your way through the morning. If even these simple breakfast suggestions are too time consuming, make breakfast a liquid meal. Throw milk (cows, rice or soya) into the blender. Dollop in a scoop of whey protein powder; two teaspoons of ground flax; a small handful of almonds; half a cup of berries and a teaspoon or two of flax oil. Blend…. gulp…. and head for the door!

Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com

Tags: Nutrition

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For years women have been told that responsible self help aimed at reducing deaths from breast cancer, involved a monthly self examination of breasts (BSE). The procedure involved a structured process of looking at and then feeling every centimetre of breast tissue.

In truth, very few of the women I have come across in my practice have ever done a regular BSE, content with a quick soapy once over in the shower, or a sideways glance in the bathroom mirror. For these “guilty” majority, the latest news on BSE comes as a welcome relief.

The new edict from on high, dispenses with BSE, based on two studies involving 400,000 Chinese and Russian women. The Cochrane Collaboration says there is no evidence that self examination of breasts actually reduces breast cancer deaths. In fact, more than suggesting that BSE is a waste of time, the findings show that regular BSE can actually cause more harm than good for women. Self checking of breasts results in far more benign (harmless) lesions, with a resulting increase in breast biopsies to investigate them.

So does this mean that women should ignore their breasts and hope for the best?   

Emphatically, NO!

In place of the arduous, and rarely practiced BSE, we are encouraged to practice “Breast Self Awareness” (BSA). No training required, BSA just means knowing your own body. Becoming tuned in to what looks and feels like your normal healthy breast. When you become familiar with touching yourself with awareness, during showering or bathing, and you get used to looking at your breasts in the mirror, you’re better placed to notice any kind of subtle variation from the norm.

You may be wondering just what an “abnormal” breast may look or feel like? There are a number of things to keep an eye out for. If you do notice any of these changes, see your doctor straight away. They may well be benign (non-cancerous) changes, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

*a lump or mass in the breast
*enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit
*changes in the breast size, shape, skin texture or colour
*dimpling or puckering of the breast skin
*nipple changes or discharge
*scaliness
*nipple pulling to one side or change in direction.

The risk vs benefit of either BSE or BSA varies with age according to Dr David Thomas, a breast cancer epidemiologist from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre (Seattle). Women in their 20′s and 30′s rarely get breast cancer, but they are more prone to benign hormonal breasts lumps. For these women, according to Hutchinson, BSE or BSA can lead to more biopsies and interventions for non-cancerous breast lumps.

With increasing age however, a woman’s risk of breast cancer rises, and the incidence of benign lumps associated with the menstrual cycle, decreases. Says Hutchinson, “When women are in their 40′s it’s a good time for them to become more aware of their breasts and more aware of the changes that might be due to breast cancer…. it’s kind of controversial as to whether it’s worth the screening – either BSEs or mammograms – but they can do both if they want”.

Personally, I have had so many patients and friends who have detected their own cancerous breast lumps, through self awareness, I think that women of any age need to know their breasts intimately.

Lynda Wharton is a health researcher, writer and natural health practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  She is the author of three women’s health books including “Wellbeing” by Harper Collins.

More at www.lyndawharton.com

Tags: Breast Health, Self Examination

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