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[daisie]

I don't think they can actualy put breast cancer down to hrt my sister who died of breast cancer at the age of 35 once told me it took 10 years for the  cancer to come out it was 10 years to when she started taking the pill the homones in the pill are a lot higher dose to prevent a pregnancy than the hrt ,my friends mum died of breast cancer at the age of 52 she was not on the hrt I was 14 at the time she died ,my aunty died of breast cancer she was in her early 50s not on hrt .you can go on for ever .don't think it realy matters if you are on it or not I suppose its one of those things it will happen no matter what I once read an article .saying if you get breast cancer while on the hrt there is a more chance of survival rate x

[Rowan]

Sorry Cancer is not causes by stress it is cause by mutation of a single cell and damaged genes, most cancers are destroyed by the body.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/what-is-cancer/cells/how-cancer-starts#how_starts

The reason hormones have been implicated is for example estrogen is because it cause cells to multiply more quickly.

The reason they say if you take HRT and get breast cancer there is more chance of survival is because it is more likely to be detected earlier. As women visit their doctors more regularly when on it and are or should be monitored.

[peegeetip]

Hi babyjane

so so sorry to hear about your friend. 

Can you give us a little more background to your friend.
 
You'd mentioned she's around same age as you (57?).
Was it picked up by screening.
How long had she taken HRT before being diagnosed.
What sort of HRT did she take.
Did she smoke or drink alcohol etc.

Not trying to pry here but perhaps we should be careful to give a more balanced update.

We seem to forget that even if we don't take HRT the chances of having breast cancer above 50 increases.
So its very difficult to allude to any cause on its own.

http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/pdf/80over50_1.pdf

Please keep in mind what others have said and even though 80% of cases happen in over 50's its still a very very small number that do occur.

So we all need to be keep aware, go for a checkup if we feel something wrong and keep up with screening - however we decide how to keep our "energy and wellbeing".

 

ps. I think the jury is out on the stress aspect to cancer also. 

[CLKD]

I agree about the 'stress' aspect - any worry can lower the immune system which can have huge impacts on how our bodies react.  Injury can also cause cancer too ……..

How are you Babyjane?  Such a shock!

[Rowan]

Sorry but there is  no evidence that cancer is caused by stress and it is worrying to implicate it and only serves to cause people to think that its something in their lives that has caused it, only to cause more distress.

Sorry if this does not go down well but I feel strongly about this.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/healthyliving/cancercontroversies/stress/stress-and-cancer2

[peegeetip]

Not sure why its would cause more distress Silverlady.
I'd rather know whether my job or situation or lifestyle was the basis or cause of a problem, so others could learn and avoid that same cause.

Not sure where your seeing things "not go down well" as I've only said the "jury is out".
I welcome your strong views wholeheartedly

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/ATF3.htm

[Dancinggirl]

I believe stress plays a part in the emergence of cancer precisely because it impacts our immune system and wellbeing so much.  The ability of our body to destroy any cancer cells that are produced must be impaired. Maybe research has ruled this out and of course there are many other factors such as genetics, environment & lifestyle choices that play their part in the development of cancer in our bodies but I don't see how anyone can dispute that stress is a significant factor.
I have heard that it isn't necessarily HRT that causes cancer but if you do develop breast cancer then the extra oestrogen from HRT may increase the severity. This doesn't however answer the contradiction in the studies that shows that women who have had a hysterectomy are more likely to develop breast cancer if they don't use oestrogen.  It seems that it's the combined HRT, which includes oestrogen and progesterone, that brings the small additional risk.
I would also like to know whether the women included the World study on HRT have their general health and lifestyle choices looked at - for example alcohol intake, diet, weight and life stresses.
I think I also read that the new findings actually concluded that women who took 5 years of HRT in their 50s actually lived bit longer - in other words some HRT at the right time will bring a protective element in the long term.
When I had my private appointment with a gynae recently ( oh the joy of having an informed professional giving some proper time to discussing my options) he even mentioned that the risk of womb cancer by using oestrogen alone (when the uterus is still in place) is actually quite small but it is the excessive bleeding that often results from not having opposing progesterone that is the real problem.
The debate rages on.
I think it is natural to blame HRT for breast cancer but we mustn't loose sight of the other factors such as, genetics, being overweight, smoking, excessive alcohol and possibly life stresses.
As I mentioned in my previous post on this thread, I know 3 ladies who have had breast cancer, to various degrees of severity, and none of them had genetic or lifestyle issues that could have been blamed and they hadn't used HRT  - they all had prolonged stress in their lives.
I am 58 and after a one year break from HRT I have decided to give HRT another go.  I will be using Oestrogel with Utrogestan (which Dr. Currie describes as more breast friendly). I have coped without HRT but the last year has been the least stressful time I have had in over 20 years. I have really looked after myself over this 12 month break from HRT and my general health has improved to a degree (the lack of stress has been wonderful), however, it will be interesting to see if the oestrogen will improve my sleep, give me more energy again and help my bladder and VA issues.
My mother had Vulva Cancer - was this due to VA because she had a premature menopause with no HRT treatment? I don't think anyone can answer that question.
I don't have any genetic links to breast cancer, I am physically active, I try to eat sensibly, drink only a very small amount of alcohol 2-3 times a week - so I should be low risk.  If I do develop breast cancer then I will blame the, often, excessive stress I have experienced over last 10-20 years.  Stress is usually unavoidable(I pride myself in very proactive in dealing with stressful situations) and I would far rather blame stress than anything I had or had not done.
DG x

[CLKD]

I had a stressful upbringing; I also was anorexic-type; all of which can lower the immune system.  Someone asked me if I regretted not eating properly when I was diagnosed; another asked whether I would alter my dietary habits and life-style ……… well, nope.  What ever had happened had been lain down probably years before.  I concentrated on the diagnosis, surgery, treatment and follow up.  Still here <wave> ……. I had good care throughout which made a huge difference too.

Surprisingly, throughout my treatment, I had no anxiety.  Probably because adrenaline was carrying me through  ……..

I would rather have a good quality of Life with medication available …….

[dahliagirl]

My lovely FIL died in his early seventies of an unusual form of cancer.  His parents had lived until their nineties, he lived a healthy life with plenty of outdoor activity, exercise sensible food and neither drank nor smoked. It was very unexpected. The next year my lovely Mil was diagnosed with cancer at 70 and died.  Everyone at the funeral thought so much for all the health advice!

The only answer is to live well and enjoy it while you have it

[CLKD]

Agree!  Make every moment last  except those anxious ones  …….. I thought I would be the sort of person who, every time I saw my tattoos where the laser was aimed during radiation treatment, would think 'oh, I've had cancer and maybe it will return' - surprisingly, nope ……..

[daisie]

I can only speak from my own personal experiences ,,my sister was so fit and healthy she used to eat well was a size 10 did yoga had 2 lovely children lovely husband she never stressed about things she found a lump had it diagnosed was cancer she had her breast off went to see her when she came home within 2 weeks she was dead that was the last time I saw her .my mother was always stressed she had 8 children had a very hard life bad husband she fetched us all up mainly on her own she smoked 10 to 15 park drive a day ate loads of fatty stuff as well as good stuff aswell she did not like going to doctors if ever she felt ill she died at 78 of a burst hernia .when I look back on this I always think its luck of the draw x

[babyjane]

all these differing posts make such interesting reading, really, I am not being patronising. They have made me think a lot about life and my attitude to it 

[tiger74]

Please keep in mind what others have said and even though 80% of cases happen in over 50's its still a very very small number that do occur.

Whilst accepting that all figures and statistics are relative and not wanting to sound alarmist.... however, the lifetime risk is 1 in 8 (or, looking at it a different way, 7 in 8 chance of not developing breast cancer).  I always thought I was well-informed health-wise but was quite shocked to learn of the 1 in 8 statistic when I was diagnosed with grade 3 IDC age 47.  The following is a statement from the Breast Cancer Care website:

"After gender, age is the most significant risk factor for developing breast cancer – the older the person, the higher the risk. Most breast cancers (80%) occur in women over the age of 50. Most men who get breast cancer are over 60.

The table below gives the estimated risk of women developing breast cancer according to age, showing how risk goes up as we get older.

Risk up to and including age 29 1 in 2,000
Risk up to and including age 39 1 in 215
Risk up to and including age 49 1 in 50
Risk up to and including age 59 1 in 22
Risk up to and including age 69 1 in 13
Lifetime risk 1 in 8

So the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8 (absolute risk) for a woman who lives to be around 84. This also means that 7 out 8 women will not develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and the risk for younger women is much lower."

http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/breast-cancer-information/breast-awareness/am-i-risk. 

Sorry to have hi-jacked your thread babyjane - I hope you're doing OK and that your friend receives all the care and support she needs.

[babyjane]

don't apologise tiger74, the thread seems to have developed an interesting discussion and I am learning about something I was quite ignorant of so thanks to everyone for their posts 

[Rowan]

There is an awful lot of stress in the world its part of life, war and atrocities , natural disasters, personal disasters, if cancer was caused by stress we all would all develop it.

There is constant research all around the world trying to find out the cause and eradication of cancer, maybe one day it will be conquered.