Fountain at Schönbrunn Gardens Vienna, Austria
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, aside from skin cancer. Approximately one out of eight, or 12% of all women will develop breast cancer in the United States. Next to lung cancer, breast cancer death rates are higher than any other cancer for women.
A new research report from the American Association of Cancer Research has revealed that breast milk may give reliable insight into a woman’s future risk of breast cancer.
Breast feeding women have been found to release abundant sloughed epithelial cells into their breast milk. Samples can be obtained easily from both breasts painlessly. These epithelial cells can be tested for cancer markers. Approximately 80% of all women will give birth at some point in their lives, making these cells readily available from a majority of women for testing in determining relative risk of the developing breast cancer. Ordinarily, in women who are not breastfeeding, would require aspiration of fluid from breast tissue which is both costly, painful and has a very low yield of cells.
The tumor marker that is being studied is the addition of certain ‘methyl groups’ onto specific genes in the DNA of these epithelial cells. It has been noted that the addition of these methyl groups disrupts normal cell function. Women who have increased risk of developing breast cancer have a high amount of methylation in these epithelial cells.
Also of extreme importance is the fact that the methylation of cells is possibly reversible. This would make it highly desirable to obtain early detection and possible treatment for women that have excessive amounts of these type of cells. Women who have excessive methylation can be followed more closely since breast cancer risk increases with age. The possibility of developing routine breast cancer screening tests for all women after they give birth may be a real possibility for the future since trials from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, by Dr. Arcaro have demonstrated a safe, accurate and inexpensive way of obtaining this extremely valuable information.
Beaute de Maman has recognized the importance of breast feeding to both the baby and now to mom. Previous blogs on our website www.beautedemaman.com have discussed how breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease in women.
Beaute de Maman’s goal is to provide better and more effective high quality products to enable more women to breast-feed successfully and for longer periods of time, thus improving the health of their infants as well as their own well being. Our nipple gel has incorporated a natural, herbal, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal herb into the product that has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, with the intention of preventing mastitis.
The base of our gel is a natural, omega 3 fatty acid which has been found to be important for brain and eye development in infants. The gel is easy to apply and can be left on the nipple until the next feeding. Beaute de Maman’s nipple gel contains no lanolin, no animal products and is kosher certified. Our aim has always been to raise the bar on available products for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
