Your Bra Won't Give You Breast Cancer, Plus 9 Other Myths Debunked
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Keep your bra on, because the media-fostered rumors aren’t true. It won’t increase your risk of breast cancer. Researchers decided to look into the rumors and prove with science whether it was true or not, and published their findings in the American Association for Cancer Research’s journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
"There have been some concerns that one of the reasons why breast cancer may be more common in developed countries compared with developing countries is differences in bra-wearing patterns," Lu Chen, a researcher in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health, said in a press release. "Given how common bra wearing is, we thought this was an important question to address.”
The research team examined if there was a link between wearing a bra and the risk of developing breast cancer in 1,513 postmenopausal women between 55 to 74 years old. Participants were grouped into 454 with invasive ductal carcinoma, 590 women with lobular carcinoma, and 469 women who did not have breast cancer. The two groups with breast cancer each had the most common subtypes of breast cancer and were used to reflect the largest populations of women who are currently diagnosed to make the findings more pertinent. In 2014, the American Cancer Society estimates 232,760 women will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer, and in the same year 40,000 women will die from it.
A large majority of women wear bras, which is why the significance of the study was valued greatly to make sure the myth of cancer-causing bras wasn’t true. "Our study found no evidence that wearing a bra increases a woman's risk for breast cancer,” Chen said. “The risk was similar no matter how many hours per day women wore a bra, whether they wore a bra with an underwire, or at what age they first began wearing a bra."
They had women wear all different types of bras and used a variety of bra-wearing habits just to be thorough. There was no difference between a woman wearing a bra with an underwire and one wearing a sports bra. Each woman in the study was interviewed in person in order to obtain important information on their demographics, family health history, and reproductive history. They also asked when they started wearing bras, whether or not they had an underwire, about cup and band size, the number of hours per day and per week wearing a bra, and how they wore a bra throughout life. When absolutely no aspect of bra wearing was connected to an increased risk for either breast cancer subtypes, researchers put the myths aside and concluded bras are safe no matter how you wear them.
"There has been some suggestion in the lay media that bra wearing may be a risk factor for breast cancer,” Chen said. “Some have hypothesized that drainage of waste products in and around the breast may be hampered by bra wearing. Given very limited biological evidence supporting such a link between bra wearing and breast cancer risk, our results were not surprising."
9 Other Breast Cancer Myths Debunked:
1. Antiperspirants increase breast cancer risk
Don’t throw away your deodorants. The American Cancer Society says to pay no attention to this rumor. It all started when someone suspected the paraben preservatives used in only some antiperspirants were cause for concern because of their weak estrogen-like properties, but studies found no connection.
2. Caffeine increases breast cancer risk
Drink up, because studies show that caffeine doesn’t cause breast cancer. Instead, studies suggest the opposite; caffeine may lower your risk.
3. Most breast lumps are cancerous
False. In fact, approximately 80 percent of lumps in women’s breast are cause by noncancerous changes, such as cysts and other growths. It’s important, however, to report all changes in the breasts so the tissue can be tested by a doctor, which may involve a mammogram, ultrasound, or biopsy.
4. Breast implants increase breast cancer risk
Simply not true. Women with breast implants are in no greater risk of getting breast cancer than the girl with an A cup. Testing for breast cancer is a little trickier when there are implants because standard mammograms don’t work as well, so additional X-rays are sometimes needed.
5. Small breasts decrease breast cancer risk
Breast size has nothing to do with the risk of breast cancer. Even men can develop breast cancer and should not be overlooked. Large breasts may be harder to examine than smaller breasts, but it makes no difference. Routine screenings, at-home lump checks, and mammograms are required for women with cups A through E, F, G, and beyond.
6. Mother’s family history affects your risk more than your father’s
Absolutely not. Both sides of your family history, whether maternal or paternal, need to be accounted for in order to realistically evaluate your risk. Men can get breast cancer, too; however, women are more susceptible, so it’s important to check out your family-tree risk the right way by also looking at the history of women on your father’s side.
7. Routine mammogram radiation increases breast cancer risk
Don’t cancel your annual mammogram checkup because you’re afraid it’ll put you at greater risk, because it’s not true. Yes, radiation is used in mammography, but the amount is so minute that risks are tiny. The benefits of catching breast cancer at earlier stages far outweigh the small amounts of radiation. The earlier it’s cause, the greater the chance for survival and the American Cancer Society recommends women 40 years and older receive a screening every one to two years.
8. Overweight and normal weight women have same breast cancer risk
Not true. Being overweight and obese will increase your breast cancer risk. This is especially true if you’re postmenopausal or have gained a significant amount of weight later on in your life. Healthy lifestyles can only help decrease your cancer risk. Don’t put your diet and exercise priorities on the back burner or else you may pay for it later on.
9. Abortions increase breast cancer risk
Thankfully, no. Abortions can disrupt hormone cycles during pregnancy, and although breast cancer is linked to hormone levels, many studies have shown there’s no causal link between women who’ve had abortions and their breast cancer risk.
Source: Chen L. of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.2014.