Symptoms

The most common site of a malignant breast tumor is the upper, outer part of the breast. Usually, the lump is not painful. A dark discharge frequently occurs from the nipple. The nipples can retract and frequently a dimple appears over the area of the lump. In 90% if the cases, only breast is affected.

 

What is Breast Cancer?

From Modern Western Medicine

Current theories on the cause of breast cancer include hormones—the incidence is higher in women who had early menstrual periods and late menopause—and diet. The disease is rare in Japan, which has a low-fat diet, but Japanese women living in the United States and eating an American diet have the same rate of breast cancer as American women. Tall, heavy women have more breast cancer than short, thin ones. Breast cancer may also be more common among women who have previously had nonmalignant cysts and tumors removed from their breasts. There is no agreement on the part played by oral birth control in this disease.

From Traditional Medicine

Breast cancer is due primarily to imbalances of the intestines and spleen. Intestinal health is crucial to healthy breast tissue. When constipation or diarrhea occurs, lymph vessels in the intestinal tract absorb more waste and send it up toward the shoulders, behind the clavicle bones, where two expelling lymph ducts excrete the lymph into the bloodstream to be cleansed by the liver. (These are only the lymph nodes that release lymph into the bloodstream to be cleansed by the liver in the entire body.) Along the way to those nodes, the lymph becomes stagnant in the breast tissue, where it can contribute to the environment for breast disease and cancer.

Second, breast cancer is an estrogen-dependent disease. Elevations in estrogen occur when a high-fat diet is consumed (explained above). Finally, the stomach and spleen meridians run through the breast and down to the feet, bringing qi to the breast tissue. When the stomach and spleen are weakened, breast tissue is deprived of qi, which contributes to stagnation and the likelihood of disease.

Who Gets Breast Cancer?

This is the most common type of cancer in women: one in every nine develops breast cancer. Fewer than one in every 100 breast cancers occur in men.

Remedies

General Recommendations

  • Increase fiber. Studies have shown that breast disease is associated with poor intestinal health, constipation, and low-fiber diets. Fiber also dramatically reduces the level of estrogen in a women’s body. Estrogen is the leading factor in the cause of breast cancer.
  • Avoid saturated fat found in animal foods, such as red meat, dairy products, and eggs. High-fat diets promote the production of estrogen. Breast cancer is an estrogen-dependent disease, and is prevalent among women with high estrogen levels.
  • Mild aerobic exercise is associated with lower incidence of breast disease. Walking, bicycling, and other aerobic activities should be done three to five days per week, for at least 30 minutes per exercise session.
  • Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is associated with an increase of breast cancer.

 

Foods to Eat

  • Whole grains: brown rice, whole wheat, millet, corn, oats, and barley are all rich in fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals
  • Miso soup promotes healthy intestinal flora and strengthens digestion and elimination. It is also rich in genistein, a powerful cancer-fighter
  • Root vegetables such as burdock, carrots, daikon, and jinenjo should be eaten every day.
  • Eat round vegetables such as cabbage, onions, and squash
  • Green vegetables, especially broccoli, watercress, collard, kale, and mustard greens are all rich in anti-cancer nutrients
  • Dried daikon and daikon leaves, pickled with rice bran, help clean fatty substances from the blood
  • Eat small beans such as adzuki beans and lentils
  • High oleic-rich oil, such as extra virgin olive oil or unrefined sesame oil, not heated above 240°F: 1 tsp. a day
  • Chopped scallions mixed and heated with an equal volume of miso and a small portion of grated ginger help to soften hardened tissues and tumors
  • Flaxseed: 3 – 4 tbsp. of soaked or crushed seeds a day
  • Liquid chlorophyll: 2 – 4 oz., twice daily

 

Foods to Avoid

  • All animal products, including fish
  • Nuts and nut butters
  • Sweets, desserts, fruit, fruit juices
  • Alcohol
  • Dairy products
  • Oily food
  • Potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes, and eggplant, because they are extremely mucus producing
  • Spices and stimulants (such as coffee) because they enhance tumor growth

 

Exercise

  • Aerobic exercise, such as walking, five times per week
  • Yoga or some form of stretching exercise

 

Herbs to Treat Breast Cancer

  • Kelp and other seaweeds (traditional Chinese medicine)
  • Dandelion root is a possible preventative for breast cancer. Take a standard decoction of 3 – 9 g or tincture, 10 – 30 drops
  • Chaparral tablets: 2 tablets, 4 times a day
  • Sassafras, red clover, chickweed, and burdock tea are good teas to cleanse the blood
  • Combine clay and macerated cabbage leaves and mix together with powdered flaxseed and water. Make a thick paste, add a pinch of cayenne, and spread on a linen and apply. Leave on for a few hours.

(Apply where?)

  • The Red Clover Combination carried by Nature’s Way products is similar to Hoxey’s formula. Take 4 tables, four times a day.

(Hoxey’s formula?)

 

Hydrotherapy

Use an albi plaster made from taro. Apply it over the affected area of the breast. It dissolves hardened tumors and lymphatic swellings, especially in breast cancer. (See Part III for instructions on how to make an albi plaster.) This will draw out poisonous waste that is stored in the cells and shrink the tumor, cancer, and swelling. The plaster should be changed every four hours, though it maybe left on overnight. After this time, the poultice becomes saturated with poisons and often will turn black.

Grate taro (found in Oriental grocery stores or in powdered form in some health food stores). Add 1/10 part grated gingerroot and 1/5 part flour. If albi cannot be found, regular potatoes can be used, but are not as effective.

 

Homeopathy

  • Pipsissewa tincture: 2 – 15 drops in water, as required
  • Silica (Hepar sulphuris calcareum 4X should be used first to encourage the elimination of pus.) Silica will promote the healing process. Take 5 tablets of 12X, five times daily.

 

Chinese Medicine

In Chinese medicine, foods and their preparation are matched to the condition and constitution of the individual. The traditional approach is to build up the system so that it can naturally overcome the cancer. Several regenerative diets are recommended, depending on the type of person:

  • Diet I: Primarily greens, vegetables, seaweeds, legumes, sprouts, herbs, microalgae, omega-3 and GLA foods and oils. Most food is cooked. Whole fruits are taken but not their juice. White fish may be eaten if there is weakness. This diet reduces the toxic excess and is applicable for those who are weak, frail, anemic, cold, and deficient.
  • Diet II: Fruits and vegetables and their juices, wheat grass juice, seaweeds, and the sprouts of seeds, grains, and legumes; also included omega-3/GLA foods and oils and appropriate microalgae, spices, and herbs that eliminate toxins and enhance immunity. Cooked grain is eaten once a day, in addition to lightly cooked vegetables and sprouts. One ounce of wheat grass juice, three times a day. This diet is a quicker discharge diet and is appropriate for those who are strong, have strong pulses, and no sign of coldness (chills, aversion to cold, pallor, and great attraction to warmth.)
  • Diet III: Same as Diet II, except for the following: all grains are sprouted and all foods are raw except for a daily vegetable soup; purgative, highly cleansing herbs and frequent enemas are also given. Wheat grass: 2 oz. of juice, three times a day. This diet reduces stress and toxins very rapidly and is the most appropriate for the strong individual who exhibits excess signs, such as a thick tongue coating; loud voice; strong pulses; extroverted personality; and who also may have signs of heat, such as aversion to cold; red face; great thirst; deep, red tongue; and/or yellow tongue coating.
  • Acupuncture, especially for the large intestine, spleen, and liver
  • Moxabustion

 

Mind/Body

  • Daily meditation
  • Join a support group. Breast cancer patients who participate in support groups live longer and have stronger immune responses than those who go it alone.
  • Become a fighter. Do not accept negative pronouncements from your doctor, friends, or family. Make all medical decisions yourself after reviewing the evidence and talking openly and completely with your doctor.
  • Get psychological and emotional support from a therapist or counselor.