Cancer is the second leading cause of death in North America (after heart and other cardiovascular diseases) and breast cancer is among the leading causes of death among women. Cancer prevention, not cancer research or cure, is therefore a top priority for all women. Of known cancer causes, smoking tobacco accounts for about a third of the cases and diet is blamed for another 30-50 per cent, although the relationship between food and cancer is hazier than for tobacco and there are no pat answers.
But "prevention" may simply not be possible. If it is, and there is some evidence that change of diet and occupation (reduced stress levels) in combination with a special herbal dietary supplement may be effective in preventing some types of cancer in women, so much the better. If it isn't, the alternative is early detection and surgery. But not just surgery, surgery in combination with other treatments which may include any or all of chemotherapy, radiation, lymphectomy, tamoxaphen (tamoxifen, and a new replacement called Arimidex which may have frightening side effects) and even radical mastectomy (complete breast removal).
Mammograms may be painful. All reports indicate that they are. However, the alternative, breast cancer left long enough to detect by conventional means (pain, lumps, etc) is virtually always resultant in radical mastectomy, chemotherapy and often in death. Check this web site for basic information on cancer, breast cancer, side effects, etc.
My wife has had 10 tumors removed from her breasts. The first two, in the late 1980's, and the last two (1 each breast each occurrence), about 1996-7, were benign. The six in between (four in the right breast, two in the left breast) were malignant. Although the diagnosis of breast cancer is a devastating experience, most women face up to and cope well with it. In fact, studies show that many respond with renewed vigour and enjoyment of life and stronger interpersonal ties. But there is an inevitable period of adjustment, usually improved by knowing as much as possible about the disease.
My wife has been “free of cancer” for well over 8 years, but at her last mammogram checkup, in Jan ‘05, they discovered a growth they could not otherwise account for and wanted to do another biopsy-type lump removal. This inevitably raises the heady and frightening spectre of “cancer” once again. As I began to write, this “ectomy” was still in our future, the results and reactions were also “still in our future”. We’ve been there, several times, but that didn’t make a diagnosis of malignancy any easier, any less emotionally stressful, even though the “period of adjustment” was eased somewhat.
So after 8-9 years cancer free she was diagnosed in January, 2005 with another lump and it was removed in early April, 2005. Yes, it was malignant, but, in the doctor’s words, it was a “friendly” tumor. Our “period of adjustment” has been much easier this time around.
My mother had a radical left-breast mastectomy when she was about 77-78. She lived another 11-12 years cancer free.
At what age am I most at risk for breast cancer? Actually, most at risk is probably after 40. But breast cancer has occurred in teenagers. I'm not sure if it occurs in pre-teens? Breast cancer is extremely rare but not unknown in men, also. The age group most at risk of dying of breast cancer is the younger women because "I'm too young to have breast cancer" and so the warning signs are ignored until it is too late.
What are the causes of breast cancer? There are many. They include stress, diet and lifestyle, and genetic tendencies (inherited).
What are the methods of detection of breast cancer? Intermittent or continuous breast pain or breast discomfort for no apparent reason should be quickly investigated. "Feeling" a "lump" or "hard spot" in one's breast should also be quickly investigated. But the best "early detection" method remains, as painful as it may be, a mammogram. My sweetie has had 7 malignant lumps successfully removed from her breasts (four from the right, three from the left) as well as 4 benign lumps (2 each breast), all detected by mammogram. Had she not had those mammograms she would long since have died of breast cancer; as it is, she also still has both breasts (slightly reduced in size).
How do we prevent breast cancer? The first thing is to eliminate undue stress. This may require a radical lifestyle change and could hinge upon something as simple as running one's household in a period of low income - just making ends meet! The next step is to make certain one's diet is not counter-productive to a cancer-free existence. A regular program of exercise, such as walking a mile or two a day, every day, is beneficial (golf is excellent exercise). Finally, an herbal dietary supplement taken as a preventive may be beneficial? However, even doing all of the above is no assurance one will not develop breast cancer. So make sure you get your mammogram.
Disclaimer: This article in no way should be taken as “medical advice” on any product, condition or course of action, nor does it constitute in any way “medical advice” endorsing any specific product, specific result, nor any possible cure for any condition or problem. This article is meant as a source of information upon which you may base your decision as to whether or not you should begin using any vitamin, mineral and/or herbal supplement for better health, or begin using a “greens” product as a dietary supplement.
If in doubt, or if you have questions, you should consult your physician and, if possible, consult a second physician for a possible different opinion. The author does not bear any responsibility for your decisions nor for the outcome of your actions based upon those decisions.
About the Author
Loring Windblad has studied nutrition and exercise for more than 40 years, is a published author and freelance writer.
This article is Copyright 2005 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text, including the Authors Resource Box, intact and unchanged except for minor improvements.
Branding used to be a fancy business word, but it is
becoming more and more used in everyday business meetings. Finally! For
decades, big corporations have used in-house, very well paid brand
managers - someone in charge of managing everything that relates to the
brand, including design, package and partnerships. You've heard
enthusiastic talks about branding, but you are still not sure if you
should get a brand management plan going for your business.
Do you need one? Any company with the intention and
potential to become or to remain a top competitor in its field needs to
develop a sound branding strategy. And that's where the brand agency comes
in. If you have a small or medium size business, you may not be able to
pay a high salary for a full-time brand manager. If that is your case, you
can benefit from working with a brand agency, and gain access to brand
management consultants, plus an entire creative team available to work in
various projects - from graphic design to web design, Internet marketing,
advertising, media planning. Instead of working with multiple vendors that
are unaware of your branding needs, you work with one single partner
dedicated to create a stronger, more valuable brand.
Can I fire my marketing team? No! Some people think a
brand agency would do away with marketing jobs. In fact, your brand agency
would not replace your marketing department, but work with your marketing
and sales people to provide them the tools they need to market your
services more successfully, while advancing your business image.
How much does it cost? Working with a branding agency is
surprisingly affordable. Think of this: how much it would cost, per year,
to have an in-house creative department, plus a well-paid brand manager?
That could easily cost your business $200K and more in payroll, equipment
and lease expenses. With an experienced branding agency you only pay a
small fraction of the costs of maintaining such a high-level team, but you
still have full-time assistance. Besides, a branding agency can save you
thousands of dollars a year in printing and production costs, through its
suppliers and partners.
To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste:
(http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click
"Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the
strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are
today.
Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com),
a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton,
Massachusetts, USA, near Boston.
Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and
product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and
brand valuation. Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott
White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech,
manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications,
banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service
businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.
Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial,
Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's
largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous
emerging growth companies. Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and
has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a
compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can
understand.
Afrikaans 
Albanian 
Amharic 
Arabic 
Armenian 
Azerbaijani 
Basque 
Belarusian 
Bengali 
Bosnian 
Bulgarian 
Catalan 
Cebuano 
Chichewa 
Chinese (Simplified) 
Chinese (Traditional) 
Corsican 
Croatian 
Czech 
Danish 
Dutch 
English 
Esperanto 
Estonian 
Filipino 
Finnish 
French 
Frisian 
Galician 
Georgian 
German 
Greek 
Gujarati 
Haitian Creole 
Hausa 
Hawaiian 
Hebrew 
Hindi 
Hmong 
Hungarian 
Icelandic 
Igbo 
Indonesian 
Irish 
Italian 
Japanese 
Javanese 
Kannada 
Kazakh 
Khmer 
Korean 
Kurdish (Kurmanji) 
Kyrgyz 
Lao 
Latin 
Latvian 
Lithuanian 
Luxembourgish 
Macedonian 
Malagasy 
Malay 
Malayalam 
Maltese 
Maori 
Marathi 
Mongolian 
Myanmar (Burmese) 
Nepali 
Norwegian 
Pashto 
Persian 
Polish 
Portuguese 
Punjabi 
Romanian 
Russian 
Samoan 
Scottish Gaelic 
Serbian 
Sesotho 
Shona 
Sindhi 
Sinhala 
Slovak 
Slovenian 
Somali 
Spanish 
Sundanese 
Swahili 
Swedish 
Tajik 
Tamil 
Telugu 
Thai 
Turkish 
Ukrainian 
Urdu 
Uzbek 
Vietnamese 
Welsh 
Xhosa 
Yiddish 
Yoruba 
Zulu
