Concerning News About Advanced Breast Cancer in Young Women

I am disturbed by a recent study of advanced breast cancer among young women. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association February 27, the study tracked breast cancer rates from 1976 to 2009. Over those 34 years, the incidence of metastatic breast cancer increased by 1.37 cases in 100,000 women. That is a very small number. Because breast cancer, especially metastatic breast cancer, is so rare among young women, this could be a statistical quirk. However in 1976 the incidence of advanced breast cancer was only 2.9. That means that the rate went up nearly 50%. When you look at it that way, these are pretty distressing numbers. There was no similar increase among older women. The increase in young women was in estrogen dependent cancers, cancers whose growth is driven by estrogen. That catches my attention because our bodies have been facing an onslaught of estrogen mimicking chemicals in the environment. Those chemicals have been linked to a very, very wide range of health problems (obesity, miscarriage) and diseases (cancer, diabetes, allergies, etc). We know that environmental chemicals cause breast cancer. It is not far-fetched to wonder if there could be a connection between these widespread estrogen-dependent cancers in young women and increasing levels of man-made estrogen-like chemicals in our environment. Hopefully not....

ADHD and Environmental Toxins

The rate of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is rapidly rising and estimated to be 12% nationwide by US Census Bureau data. According to community estimates, ADHD rates are as high as 20% in some areas. Nationwide the percentage of children receiving prescription medication for ADHD is approaching 5% (and well over that in some areas). As the number of children diagnosed with ADHD soars in the US, parents, educators, health care providers and scientists are asking, “why”? The list of answers and possible explanations is quite long. With no blood test to diagnose ADHD, and many reasons why overworked teachers, stressed parents and hurried doctors would want easy fixes, stamping a child with the ADHD label and starting that child on medication is an appealingly quick shovel-it-under-the-carpet response. Anyone with the most superficial experience of the challenges posed by these children will be sympathetic. One reasons for over-diagnosis is uncertainty about what really is normal. Kids who are creative and unusually smart, need challenges or they will often create them for those around them. Kids who learn well but need a lot of physical activity also draw negative attention. Sadly, a child who sits quietly underachieving is often neglected. We live in a culture where driving a two ton metal projectile hurtling down the road, inches away from dozens or even hundreds of other vehicles, is boring. So we crank it up by talking on the phone, messing with CDs, running videos in the car and TEXTING! Driving has become our most popular extreme sport. Our culture is ADHD. We create children in our own image. Cultural elements have a huge impact. So does diet. As I’ve discussed before, many in the medical community have decades-long experience of the ADHD-reducing effects of a diet limited in additives, preservatives and sugar. Even the British government is on board with this idea, after they funded a study expecting to discredit the theory. Prenatal care is vital, as is getting enough of the right nutrients, physical activity, positive parenting and teaching. Besides avoiding food additives, more and more research is linking unwanted “environmental additives” (ie, toxins) to ADHD. The latest is a newly released Harvard study of nearly 250 pregnant women. Researchers tested their urine for BPA, finding it in over 97% of the women, and compared those BPA levels to mothers’ reports of ADHD behaviors in their children at age 3. With each 10 fold rise in BPA levels, there was a significant rise in mothers’ reports of their daughters’...