Hello,
This year 182,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 43,300 will die. 1,600 men will be diagnosed and 400 will die. Chilling statistics, but ones we have more control over than you might think.

Let's look at toxins for a moment.

• Organic pollutants accumulate and concentrate in fatty tissue, especially female breasts.
• Americans utilize over 2 billion pounds of pesticides each year.
• More than 3,000 chemicals are added to the foods one commonly finds in the supermarket.
• Over 700 chemical compounds have been found in common drinking water.
• The average school child in the United States is exposed to illegal drugs by the time he is 8 years old.
• Medical drugs - a multi-billion dollar industry- are used today for a multitude of problems- from sleeplessness to depression.
• Research has found that the average person consumes up to 4 pounds of pesticides each year and has residues of over 400 toxic substances in the body.
• There is evidence that women who have breast cancer have 50 to 60% higher levels of organochlorines in their tissues than women without breast cancer.
• Organochlorines are chemicals made from chlorine and these include everything from bleach to plastics, deodorants, paints, wood preservers, pesticides and cleaning agents.
• Scientific research demonstrates that drugs and chemicals stay in the body long after they are ingested - dulling awareness, decreasing mental acuteness and affecting our emotions.

RISK FACTORS
What are some lifestyle and dietary habits that put as at greater risk?

Prolonged use of oral contraceptives and estrogen replacement therapy.
High-fat animal and dairy product diets that are heavily contaminated with chlorinated pesticides that are estrogenic (similar to the hormone estrogen) and carcinogenic (can cause cancer) to the breast. Meat contaminated with potent sex hormones following their use to fatten cattle in feed lots prior to slaughter.
Exposure to petrochemical carcinogens in the workplace that put about 1 million U.S. women at increased risk.
Exposure to carcinogenic chemicals from hazardous waste sites and petrochemical plants that pollute soil, air and water.
Exposure to indoor air pollutants, including carcinogenic pesticides and solvents.
Prolonged use of black and dark brown permanent or semi-permanent hair dyes.
Heavy smoking and drinking commencing in adolescence.
Inactivity and obesity. As you can see there are many risk factors. Unfortunately many of these are difficult to avoid.

So what can you do to decrease your risk?
2 things:

1. Make sure your liver is working optimally. Why your liver? Because the liver is your detoxification organ. Its job is to take toxins that enter your system and render them harmless so they can be excreted from your body before they can cause any damage. Needless to say, the stronger and better your liver is, the better able it is to perform this vital job.

BioHealth Diagnostics has an incredible lab test designed to evaluate liver function. It is a simple urine test, but it looks at your liver's ability to detoxify from two different angles.

I consider it a foundational test. By that I mean it is one of the basic, critical tests that I perform on most of my patients. And now you know why that is. With all the chemicals we are being bombarded with, normal liver function is critical.

2. Remove the stored toxins already in your body. This may sound pretty complex, but fortunately it's not. When there are too many toxins for the liver to deal with the body deposits these toxins in the fat. These residual toxins can cause adverse reactions in people months and even years after they were first exposed to the drug or chemical.

As women we frequently hear that mammograms are our best prevention tool when it comes to breast cancer. I disagree. Early detection is, of course, important. But better, by far, is to lessen your chances of getting cancer at all. Having a healthy liver can go a long way towards the prevention of many illnesses, cancer included.

Please feel free to contact me at drvikkip@aol.com should you have any questions.