The recent Dutch study revealing a possible link between IVF and borderline ovarian tumors has caused some panic amongst our patients.  I’d like to set everyone’s mind at ease.

This was a large and long term study comparing ovarian cancer rates in nearly 20,000 women who received IVF with about 6,000 infertile women who had not.  Sixty-one women in the IVF group had ovarian tumors. 31 of these were considered “borderline ovarian cancer” and 30 were invasive cancer.  Those who had IVF had about double the likelihood of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer compared to those who did not over the course of the 15-year study, which was published in the Journal of Human Reproduction.

To the casual reader this all sounds very scary but let me break down the facts for you.

• Firstly, borderline ovarian tumors are NOT cancer and the study of 26,000 women found no increase risk of ovarian cancer in women who undergo IVF.  Borderline ovarian tumors are not fatal and may never become malignant, but they usually require surgery.

• Secondly, less than one woman in 100 (0.45 percent of women) will get ovarian cancer by the time they reach the age of 55.  If the results of this study are true, this risk increases to 0.71 percent for women who have IVF treatment.  This is a very small risk increase.  To help put this into perspective, the risk of heart disease is 1 in 5, the risk of being injured in a motor vehicle accident is 1 in 100, and the risk of breast cancer is 1 in 9.  The increased risk of a borderline ovarian tumor is 7 in 1,000.

• There was no additional risk of ovarian cancer for women who had repeated courses of IVF treatment compared with women who had just one treatment.  This might indicate that the hormonal stimulation drugs are not what are causing the increase in borderline tumors.  Some other factor could have accounted for the difference — especially since the risk didn’t continue to rise in those who had higher hormone doses.  Also, women who had been treated with fertility drugs before going on to have IVF treatment did not have a higher risk of a tumor than those who had not.

This study creates a lot of questions that need to be further investigated.  As Jill and Dr. David pointed out, in Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility, all medicine is about weighing up risks and benefits and no one should be taking fertility drugs unless it’s absolutely necessary. However, this study reveals that the increased risk of  ovarian cancer associated with IVF is small and, in my opinion, this should not stop someone from using IVF as an option for having a baby.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and so we have been focusing on this disease here at The YinOva Blog. Last week I wrote about breast cancer prevention and the week before I wrote about a new study that shows how helpful acupuncture can be to women who are undergoing breast cancer treatment. I thought it was about time you heard from a patient so I asked Suzanne Murphy Davison to write about her experiences. It has been my privilege to play a small role in Suzanne’s journey. She is an inspirational woman and I have watched her grow in response to the challenges life has thrown at her. I am so, so proud of her and thrilled to introduce her to you. It is my hope that she will continue to share what she has learned with the YinOva community. She has much to teach us. Here in her own words is her story.

Well, hello to you all!! My name is Suzanne, and as Jill mentioned in a previous blog I am a patient at the YinOva Center and five year survivor of breast cancer. I represent a demographic that is, unfortunately, becoming much more common – a young, pre-menopausal woman diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 32 at the time of my diagnosis… and a week away from my wedding! You can imagine how shocking it was to hear I had breast cancer, but I was even more stunned to find that I had a fairly advanced case of it.

That is what galvanized me to become my own advocate and to seek out complementary treatment to go along with the conventional therapy. I had been interested in nutrition, homeopathy and herbs for several years, but I was dragging my feet on making dietary changes. I seemed pretty healthy, and physically I was in the best shape of my life since I had been exercising to look good in that wedding dress! It was a little incomprehensible to me that I had cancer – I looked and felt fine. I still had trouble believing it, even when I was thrown into the maelstrom of doctor’s appointments and second opinions and scheduling surgery for a lumpectomy, which eventually turned into a mastectomy once I found out how much the cancer had spread and how many lymph nodes were involved.

I hadn’t gone to acupuncture before, but at the urging of my homeopath I made the appointment. I am sure many of you completely understand where I am coming from when I say that my visit with Jill was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. It was the first time in all of the craziness of being diagnosed that I began to calm down and feel like I had some power over how I was going to deal with my disease. She exuded such an extraordinary sense of compassion and caring, and her skill as a practitioner was astounding. I started going to acupuncture weekly before chemotherapy and radiation commenced to get myself physically and mentally prepared for treatment. I also modified my diet so that I was eating wholesome, health-supporting whole foods: a multitude of fresh vegetables and fruit with every meal, whole grains like quinoa, barley, buckwheat and polenta, and lean protein. I cut out processed foods like sugar, white flour products, and junk food entirely. I was amazed and a little confused to see my health improve rapidly, even though I was “sick.” It was the beginning of a journey that changed many things for me, not the least of which were my ideas of what “sick” and “healthy” meant.

Once I had my mastectomy and started the process for breast reconstruction, I began a regimen of chemotherapy, which occurred every other week and lasted four months. The most difficult aspects of it were the nausea, mouth sores, fatigue, and hot flashes. I wasn’t too thrilled with the baldness part of it either, though I kept trying to remind myself that it was temporary. The doctors prepare you for it and can even pinpoint the exact time when it will start, but it still doesn’t help when you get down to the moment when you are Officially Bald. Until then, I had been able to hide the fact that I was sick and still pass as a healthy, normal person. It was a hard adjustment to have the world see me as a cancer patient.

Then, the hot flashes started coming on pretty strong – in the cancer world, we call that chemopause – so I wasn’t just a bald cancer patient: I was a sweaty, red-faced bald cancer patient drowning underneath my cute red-haired wig. Jill adjusted her treatment and they decreased so dramatically that I hardly noticed them. Between acupuncture and homeopathy, I found that I could deal with the side effects of chemotherapy quite nicely. In fact, I did so well I even went out on an interview and got a part-time job – wig and all!!

Radiation presented different challenges for me. The fatigue was much more debilitating during this phase. I think part of it was the regimen. I was treated five days a week for six weeks, which quickly becomes very taxing in itself. But, I also think that as I was nearing the end of my treatment I was experiencing the cumulative effects of the physical and mental trauma that goes along with cancer. In the last week of radiation I started to get a very bad burn. It was extremely painful and very demoralizing, and that coupled with the fatigue found me dragging myself into Jill’s office and collapsing onto the table. I found that the acupuncture was extremely helpful with decreasing the fatigue and the pain of the burn, and I was extremely grateful to have another option to help with this very difficult side effect.

Many people have asked me what my lowest point was during this breast cancer journey, expecting to hear that the treatment was the hardest part. But for me, my lowest point came once my treatment was over. Before that, I didn’t have much time to reflect on all that had happened – I was more concerned with survival and keeping myself going through all that was ahead of me. Once treatment ended, I had a chance to catch my breath and actually feel just how hard it was for me to lose my breast. It shook my confidence down to the core and changed my body image. I wondered how all the drugs and radiation might affect me in the long term. I worried about my fertility. I lost friends that I loved to the same disease that I had. I thought about my sense of myself as “young” and “healthy” and how I felt like I had lost both of those feelings forever, at the ripe old age of 32. And I worried – boy did I ever worry – about the cancer coming back.

Feeling the heartache of this loss – the loss of my old life and the step forward into my new “normal” – was one of the toughest things I have ever had to do. It was much, much harder for me than the actual treatment. And grieving for it is a process that takes time. No one wants to do this voluntarily. But with it comes an amazing opportunity for growth. I was very surprised to experience these wonderful gifts that were also a part of my cancer journey. I had a newfound clarity, and that helped me to let go of a lot of baggage that was weighing me down and helped me to prioritize the important things in my life. I live my life now with a joy and a freedom that were only a faint idea for me before cancer. I am far from perfect, so I still have my moments of doubt and fear and unhappiness. But I don’t stay there for very long. I appreciate the fact that my life is a gift. I keep a quote from Joseph Campbell in mind and have it posted so I can read it every day: “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

And so one of the biggest blessings that has come out of my experience is that I have found my voice and a calling to be a strong advocate for vibrant health, for myself and for others experiencing illness. I am thrilled to be able to turn this experience around and offer it as a helping hand to someone else who is struggling. I certainly have been the beneficiary of that: I cannot thank all of the amazing people in my life who helped me through such a difficult time enough, especially Jill and all the other wonderful people at the YinOva Center. I am so deeply grateful for the compassion, kindness, encouragement, and emotional support I received from them.

And so, here I am, five years later. I’m still cancer free, and acupuncture is an integral part of my long-term plan for a healthy and vibrant life. I have continued and expanded my dietary modifications, and returned to a lapsed meditation practice, which gives me a sense of peace and gratitude every day. I’ve continued to grow in my knowledge of nutrition and herbs, and have added in exercise to keep myself fit and flexible. And I feel confident again, but in a much deeper way than I was before. It comes from a sense of who I am, rather than just what I look like on the exterior. I feel empowered to work on my health in order to live my life, rather than have my life work to serve my health. I hope that by sharing some of my experiences you will feel empowered to work on your health, too.

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Suzanne Murphy Davison © October 2008

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Whenever I talk about breast cancer prevention I am very conscious of my patients who are currently dealing with this illness. I want to avoid making them feel as if they did something wrong. Too often cancer patients beat themselves up for things they did and things they wished they’d done. I don’t want to add to that burden. To a certain extent these things are random. We have all known couch potatoes who have eaten nothing but junk food and lived into their 90′s.

However there is plenty of evidence that a healthy lifestyle can really reduce your breast cancer risk and so today I want to talk to you about what you can do to help yourself. My interest in this is a personal one. My mother died of breast cancer when she was in her 50′s and so it is in her memory that I take care of myself and help my patients to live as healthily as possible.

In Chinese Medicine there are four factors which are said to contribute to breast cancer

• Stagnation – lack of flow of qi and blood which over time leads to denser and denser tissue
• Heat and Toxicity – the presence of external toxins for example cigarette smoke, environmental toxins or chemical estrogens
• Deficiency – a failure of your bodies immune system to clean up abnormal cell
• Damp accumulation – this is a way of describing excess fat cells

Consequently in Eastern medicine cancer prevention focuses on moving qi and blood, protecting the body from toxicity, clearing damp accumulation and supporting the body’s natural defenses.

Western and Eastern medicine may come from a different frame of reference but their findings are very similar and the advice we give is therefore not inconsistent whether you see the world in an Eastern or a Western way (as you know at The YinOva center we do a bit of both).

It can be grouped into the following areas.

1. Support your liver in order to help your body to process estrogen
2. Limit your exposure to external sources of estrogen and environmental toxins
3. Support your general health
4. Move qi and blood in the breast
5. Explore the emotions associated with breast lumps

1 . Support your liver to help it process estrogens.

Some breast cancers grow in response to excess estrogen in the system which means that it is helpful to support your liver whose job it is to process estrogen for you. A liver that is otherwise occupied by processing alcohol, for example, may not be able to process estrogen in the same way. Interestingly in Chinese medicine breast cancer is often related to liver qi stagnation which is an Eastern way of describing an over-taxed liver leading to lack of flow of qi and blood which, as we talked about earlier, is one of the reasons for cancer from a Chinese medical perspective.

• Limit Alcohol -There is a strong link between breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption. In fact scientist have shown that drinking a little as one unit of alcohol a day raises your breast cancer risk by 9%. At The YinOva Center we suggest that our patients limit their alcohol to 3 – 4 drinks a week.
• To stimulate the liver you can use lemon juice, and put bitter greens such as dandelion greens, endive and raddichio in your salad.
• You can take liver-supporting herbs including dandelion root, milk thistle, burdock, artichoke and turmeric.
• B vitamins also aid the liver and are recommended. They can be added in the form of whole foods (such as lentils, rice bran, and blackstrap molasses) or supplements. Vitamin B6, in particular, enhances the breakdown and removal of estrogen from the body.
• At the YinOva Center we sell a month long herbal detox made by Blessed Herbs which we find to be very helpful as part of a detoxification strategy .
• Flax seed oil improves liver function. Flaxseed is particularly high in a phytoestrogen called lignan, which appears to decrease estrogen production and which may inhibit the growth of some breast cancers. To get the full benefit of the flax seeds you need to grind them up. You can sprinkle them on your breakfast cereal of bake with them as in this recipe for banana bread from the YinOva blog

2. Limit your exposure to external sources of estrogen and environmental toxins

Controlling how much estrogen you take in is difficult in our estrogen-laden environment. The problem is that chemical estrogens have ways of entering our food and water supply. Agricultural chemicals and pesticides mimic the activity of estrogen, making estrogen receptor sites more sensitive. Urine, contaminated with high levels of residual estrogen from birth control pills, can seep back into water supplies through inadequate sewage treatment procedures. Plastic wrap and plastic food containers can leach estrogen-like compounds into our food. In Western terms these are known as xenoestrogens and in Eastern medicine they are considered to be environmental toxins which, as we talked about earlier, can contribute to cancer.

• Unless your doctor considers it imperative, it is wise to avoid estrogen replacement therapy as a means of addressing menopausal symptoms.

• Avoid exposure to pesticides. Research has shown that the molecular structure of some pesticides closely resembles that of estrogen. This means they may attach to estrogen receptor sites in your body. One study found that women with breast cancer had elevated levels of pesticide residue in their breast tissue.

• Avoid hormonally treated meat and dairy

• Eat as much organic produce as you can

• Avoid refined and hydrogenated oils also called trans-fats. A study found that women with the highest levels of trans fats in their blood had twice the risk of breast cancer than women with the lowest levels.

• Eat cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflour, kale and brussels sprouts. These contain a phytonutrient called diindolylmethane (DIM) which supports the activity of enzymes that improve estrogen metabolism. Scientific research shows diindolylmethane helps your body process estrogen so that less is free floating in your blood stream. In fact Chicago scientists are working on a broccoli based pill that would prevent breast cancer.

3. Support your general health

In Chinese medicine we believe that cancers grow when the body is no longer able to clean up. This is supported by current western medical research that shows that cancerous cells are normally cleaned up by the body’s immune system. Consequently, they proliferate when the body is overwhelmed and not able to mount a good defense. This is why current cancer research is focusing on supporting the body’s immune system as a way of combating cancer.

• Take regular exercise – Research has shown that women who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of breast cancer by 20%. In Eastern medicine exercise is considered to be the best way of moving qi and blood and as we mentioned earlier it is qi and blood stagnation that can contribute to cancer.

• Adopting a low fat, high fiber, mostly vegetarian diet is a helpful way of reducing the amount of free floating estrogen in your blood stream.

• Maintain a healthy weight – The link between obesity and breast cancer is clear. Researchers have found that if you are 22lbs overweight you increase your breast cancer risk by 18%. This is particularly true if you gain weight after menopause. The reason for this is that excess fatty tissue causes an increase in the amount of circulating estrogen and breast cancer risk increases in relation to the amount of estrogen you are exposed to during your lifetime. In Eastern medicine this weight gain is related to damp accumulation which is a way of describing excess fat cells.

• Try to give up unhealthy habits such as smoking. If you need help with this talk to us at The YinOva Center about ways we can support you.

• As well as making lifestyle and dietary changes you should be vigilant about early detection of breast cancer. Start having mammograms every year after the age of 40 and examine your breasts once a month, preferably in the week after your period. If you notice any breast changes, such as a lump or skin changes contact your doctor.

4. Move qi and blood in the breast

Having lumpy breasts, also known as fibrocystic breasts, means that there is stagnation in your breast tissue from an Eastern perspective. Western clinical research seems to suggest that having fibrocystic breasts does not increase your risk of breast cancer unless some of the cells are already atypical. This fits with the Chinese medical idea that stagnation needs to be combined with other factors such as toxicity and weak immunity in order for cancer to develop. However we still recommend moving qi and blood in the breast as a way of taking preventative action against breast cancer.

• The best way of systemically moving qi and blood is to take regular exercise. At The YinOva Center we recommend 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 x a week.

• Regular acupuncture can move qi and blood

• If you suffer from fibrocystic breasts or even breast that are tender premenstrually ask us about herbal formulas that can help

• If you suffer from tender breasts or have benign breast lumps apply a caster oil pack to the breast once a week. The pack invigorates the blood and helps the lymphatic system move debris. Apply caster oil to your breasts, cover the area with plastic wrap them place a heating pack or hot water bottle on top. This should be warm not scalding. If it is too hot place a towel between the hot pack and the plastic wrap.

5. Explore the emotions associated with breast lumps

In Chinese medicine both benign and malignant breast lumps are associated with liver qi stagnation which in turn is associated with repressed anger. In my practice I have noticed that my breast cancer patients have often experienced a situation about which they are still angry. Often they have been thwarted in some way or treated badly and been unable to give voice to their grievance. It is worth exploring these areas either by journaling or with a therapist.

Related article on the YinOva Blog
New Research gives Hope for Breast Cancer Patients

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I know that many of you saw the recent news reports about a new study that showed that acupuncture is remarkably helpful when it comes to relieving the side effects of breast cancer treatment. You can see an ABC news report on this by clicking here.

Doctors treating breast cancer give patients drugs that lower their estrogen levels in order to reduce the risk that breast cancer will return. Unfortunately these drugs also mimic the symptoms of menopause and can have some unpleasant side effects such as night sweats, insomnia and hot flashes.Doctors normally give the antidepressant Effexor to treat these symptoms but researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that acupuncture is just as effective as an antidepressant and has less side effects. The study compared 12 weeks of acupuncture to 12 weeks of treatment with Effexor in a group of women who were undergoing hormonal therapy for breast cancer. Both the acupuncture and the Effexor relieved hot flashes and night sweats but the women taking the Effexor complained of side effects such as dry mouth, nausea and headaches whereas the women treated with acupuncture had no side effects and even reported an increase in a feeling of well being, more energy and improved sex drive. The acupuncture also seemed to have a longer lasting effect with most participants reporting that they were symptom free for up to 15 weeks after stopping the acupuncture treatment. You can see an interview with Dr. Eleanor Walker, a radiation oncologist and one of the lead authors of the study by clicking here.

In my own practice I have treated many breast cancer patients and my own experience is similar to the findings in this study. One of my patients, Suzanne, agreed to share her story with you in the hope that it would inspire other breast cancer patients to seek out acupuncture as an adjunct to conventional treatment. Suzanne was in her early thirties when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact she found out she had the disease just a week before her wedding and underwent a mastectomy when she returned from her honeymoon. After her mastectomy she was given chemotherapy and radiation therapy and at that time she came to see us at The YinOva Center. I treated her with acupuncture for nausea, fatigue, constipation, anxiety, hot flashes and insomnia. Suzanne found a once weekly acupuncture treatment to be a simple, cost effective way of dealing with the side effects of her chemo and radiation. She also appreciated the pampering and emotional support she got from us during a time when many of her treatments were painful and invasive. That was over 5 years ago and I am happy to report that Suzanne is cancer free. She is still a patient at The YinOva Center where we see her once a month for acupuncture. This monthly treatment is now part of the regimen she has developed to maintain her good health, along with regular exercise and a healthy diet.

If you would like to talk to us about how we can help and support you as you undergo breast cancer treatment or if you would like us to put you in touch with other patients who have used acupuncture to handle the side effects of their drug therapy please call us at The YinOva Center.

It is often hard to get funding to research acupuncture treatment. Unlike a drug where the research investment will result in a profit for the pharmaceutical company acupuncture research is not profitable. This valuable study was funded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation. My Mom suffered from breast cancer and so I have a personal interest in supporting this wonderful charity. If you would like to donate to their ongoing efforts to combat breast cancer click here.

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