Much breast cancer is related to a need to contain emotion. According to Caroline Myss, hurt, sorrow, and unfinished emotional business related to nurturance are the major emotions behind lumps in the breast and breast cancer.

Breasts are located very near the heart and can show regret, guilt or being unable to forgive (self or others). Either of these blocks feelings thereby blocking breast energy and protection.

As early as 1888, medical research identified the relationship between breast cancer, anger, rage, sorrow and loneliness. The researchers found that women diagnosed with breast cancer were often self-sacrificing, inhibited sexually, unable to discharge anger or hostility and hid it behind a mask of pleasantness, and unresolved conflicts with their mothers.  Suppression of these feelings was associated with negative changes in their immune systems, possibly making them more prone to cancer. Many women also stayed in loveless marriages, where they received little support, which could also be a contributing factor.

It takes courage to forgive others and/or yourself and release anger and rage, but it may be very  important in the journey to staying healthy. You may wish to do this on your own, or you can find a mental health nurse practitioner to help you. A third alternative is to take a course in assertiveness in person or via a book or online and learn how to express your negative feelings in a socially-acceptable way. For more information on my self-study course on assertiveness, look to your left and find it in the links.

I am developing a workbook to help women get in touch with their feelings and find socially acceptable ways to release them. If you have stories you wish to share about your feelings, information you need to release feelings, or reduce breast cancer risk, please click on my picture above and follow until you can contact me with your ideas.

Food can also be helpful. An article on the use of soybeans to reduce breast cancer risk follows.

Sources:

Caroline Myss, The Creation of Health

Christiane Northrup, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

Herbert Snow, The Proclivity of Women to Cancerous Disease, London, 1883

Tarlau and Smalheiser, Personality patterns in women with malignant tumors of the breast and cervix, Psychosomatic Medicine, vol 13, 1951, p. 117.

C.B. Bahnson, Stress and cancer: The state of the art, Psychosomatics, volume 22, number 3 (1981), pp. 207-220.

Sandra Levy and colleagus, Perceived social support and tumor estrogen progresterone receptor status as predictors of natural killer cell acitivty in breast cancer patients,  Psychosomatic Medicine, volume 52 (1990).

What does soy have to do with breast cancer?

Dietary soy intake among women with breast cancer is significantly associated with lower risk for death and recurrence, according to the results of a new, large, population-based cohort study reported in the  Journal of the American Medical Association.

The estrogen-like effect of isoflavones and the potential interaction between isoflavones and tamoxifen have led to concern about soy food consumption among breast cancer patients.

A new study shows that concern may not be warranted.

The Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study evalauted 5042 female breast cancer survivors in China, women 20 to 75 years of age who were diagnosed between March 2002 and April 2006 were recruited and followed up through June 2009.

During follow-up of 5033 breast cancer patients treated with surgery, there were 444 deaths and 534 recurrences or breast cancer–related deaths. Soy food intake, measured by either soy protein or soy isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with mortality and recurrence.

Women with either estrogen receptor–positive or estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer exhibited this inverse association, as did both users and nonusers of tamoxifen.

Although based on a relatively short followup period, the researchers concluded that eating soy foods is safe and was associated with lower death and recurrence rate among breast cancer patients.

An editorial accompanying the article stated that health care practitioners can recommend soy foods to women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but that potential benefits are confined to soy foods, and inferences should not be made about the risks or benefits of soy-containing dietary supplements.
Be sure to use only non-GMO soy.

What are some soy foods?

1. Tofu
2. Tempeh
3. Soybeans