10 Ways to Help Prevent Breast Cancer – Part 2
Filed Under Breast Health |
2. Limit or avoid birth control pills
Even the weakest pill contains seven times the amount of estrogen naturally occurring in your body. Research has determined that the single greatest risk factor for future development of breast cancer is lifetime exposure of the breasts to estrogen. It would appear that controlling the influence of estrogen on the breasts would be the single most important method of primary breast cancer prevention.
It was not until 1905 that Theodoor Hendrik Van de Velde, a Dutch gynecologist, showed that women only ovulate once per menstrual cycle. In the 1920s, Kyusaku Ogino, a Japanese gynecologist, and Hermann Knaus, from Austria, independently discovered that ovulation occurs about 14 days before the next menstrual period. Thus the Knaus-Ogino or the Rhythm (or Calendar) method is one of the “biological” forms of birth control. A couple avoids unprotected sexual intercourse just before, during, and just after ovulation.
For over 100 years, the Rhythm Method was promoted by the Catholic Church as the only morally acceptable form of family planning. Ovulation occurs about 14 days before the start of a woman’s period. Since sperm can live inside the vagina for up to 3 days, and an egg can stay fertile in the fallopian tubes and vagina for up to 3 days, unprotected intercourse must be avoided for more than just the day of ovulation. To be safe, a woman should abstain from sex (or use a condom) 5 days before ovulation, and 5 days after.
The effectiveness of the rhythm method depends on how meticulously it is practiced. The study, published in the June 1998 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, found the technique had an impressive 96% effectiveness rate in preventing pregnancy, comparing favorably to other methods of contraception. Women must keep track of three things: their core body temperature, the fertile days of their cycle as measured by a calendar, and their cervical secretions. This may prove challenging to those women with irregular menstrual cycles who may have to address this issue first.
Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier for a physician to prescribe a birth control pill that will also “regulate” a woman’s cycle than it is to discuss natural forms of birth control, and to treat the underlying cause of menstrual irregularity. Although it is more challenging to discuss this issue, especially with younger women, I have found that it is always worth the effort to get someone off the pill. For further information on the Rhythm Method visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_Method.
Dr. Alex Mostovoy
