Could these give your breast cancer?

October is the month for breast cancer awareness, but along with the disease’s deservedly high profile comes a lot of misinformation. With frightening claims circulating the internet that everyday products like hair dye are secret cancer causers, along with contradictory studies that tell us to eat soy one minute and avoid it the next, ‘awareness’ can easily evolve into unwarranted paranoia – and that doesn’t help anyone. We take a look at some of the most commonly cited ‘causes’ of breast cancer, to find out where fact meets fiction.

HAIR STRAIGHTENING

Although a large 2007 study funded by the National Cancer Institute found no increase in breast cancer risk due to the use of straighteners or relaxers, a study by the University of California published in August this year found that the Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Hair Solution could expose people to potentially dangerous levels of the cancer-causing chemical formaldehyde. “The recommendation is that salons use products containing no more than 0.1 per cent formaldehyde, but the product we investigated contained 12 per cent formaldehyde,” said study author Michelle Stewart. The stronger the solution, the more effective the treatment, and in the US some manufacturers have been found to be using up to 50 times the recommended limit. If you’re interested in having the process, ask salons if they use formaldehyde-free products.

BRAS

Rumours started circulating about push-up, underwire and tight bras after the publication of Dressed To Kill: the Link Between Breast Cancer And Bras, a book suggesting bras obstruct the free movement of the lymph system, causing toxins to collect in the breast tissue. This has now been widely debunked as unscientific and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) states women need not be concerned about wearing bras.

HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY (HRT)

No causal connection has been found between drinking caffeine and getting breast cancer. In fact, some research suggests caffeine could lower your risk. A June 2013 study by the Medical College of Qingdao University, Shandong, which undertook meta-analysis of 37 published articles, concluded that no significant association was found between breast cancer risk and coffee, decaffeinated coffee or caffeine. However, it found that coffee might be weakly associated with breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women, and that its association for BRCA1 mutation carriers deserves further investigation.

HAIR DYE

Because so many people use hair dyes and there are some 5,000 different chemicals in such products, scientists have done many studies on it, all producing conflicting results. According to the National Cancer Institute, although early hair dye formulations contained chemicals found to cause cancer in animals, those were eliminated in the Seventies. However, the latest study by British scientists has found chemicals in permanent hair dyes may react adversely with tobacco smoke and other airborne pollutants “to form one of the most powerful cancer-causing compounds known to man,” say Green Chemicals. But before you panic, the American Cancer Society maintains, “Most studies looking at hair dye use and breast cancer have not found an increased risk.” If you’re unsettled by the uncertainty, Cancer Research UK recommends reducing your use or switching to lighter shades or semi-permanent hair dyes, which contain lower levels of chemicals than darker, permanent dyes.

BREAST IMPLANTS

An April 2013 study published in the British Medical Journal concluded that, although women with breast implants are at no greater risk of getting breast cancer, they have a 38 per cent greater risk of death from the disease than women without them. This is because the presence of implants may hide developing tumours when women undergo mammograms, so the cancer is more advanced when diagnosed. Awareness is therefore crucial; those with implants should warn the radiographer when going for a mammogram in order to get additional X-rays.

CONTRACEPTIVE PILL

A 2002 study of 9,300 American women (aged 35-64) revealed that oral contraceptives had no effect on their level of breast cancer risk. However, Cancer Research UK’s current advice is that because the Pill contains oestrogen, which can stimulate breast cancer cells to grow, there is a small increase in risk while you are taking the Pill, although the increase in risk goes back to normal 10 years after you’ve stopped taking it. Balanced against this, the Pill also seems to reduce the risk of some other cancers, such as ovarian and womb cancers.

DEODORANT

Claims that deodorant or antiperspirant use increases the risk of breast cancer have been circulating since the Nineties, inspired by the fact the lymph nodes, where some breast cancers develop, are located beneath the underarm. Cancer Research UK states: “There is no evidence that parabens or aluminium salts found in antiperspirants cause breast cancer,” but admits more research is needed. If concerned, look for more natural products without parabens.



BARBECUED FOOD

IVF

Given oestrogen’s connection to breast cancer, fertility treatments have come under suspicion. While several studies have found that prospective mums are likely to have no higher risk of breast cancer, more research is needed.

SOY PRODUCTS