Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2009

Escape from the endocrine disruptors

From the bajillion zillion natural and artificial compounds that can mess with your system, I usually focus on trying to get rid of the pesky environmental "estrogen mimics". As I've said before, there is a high incidence of ER+ cancerous tumors in my family, and I like my natural boobies/not undergoing chemo.
But that shit is everywhere.
  • I changed my plastic containers to glass and aluminum, including my water bottle. But I still buy vending machine soda. Think about it, soda is acidic, and acids will dissolve small molecules (like phtalates) from plastic better than water. Smart going, me.
  • I have a skin condition, called Pityriasis Rosea. It itches like crazy, and your skin becomes really dry. So I make a quick run to the store and grab the sensitive skin Lubriderm. When I look at the ingredients the preservatives (parabeinzoic acid)were on the do-not-want list. I still use it because I'm broke and I rather not itch like crazy.
  • My scrub! The cheap girl's scrub from St. Ives also has those preservatives.
  • Some self-tanning lotions have those preservatives too. I threw mine away during Spring cleaning.

Monday, January 26, 2009

I'd like to save my boobies, kthnx

I come from a family of huge, luscious boobies, and breast cancer. Thankfully, my grandma does breast cancer surgery, and along with my GP monitors my screenings.
However, a family propensity for Estrogen Receptor positive (ER+) tumors (my dad's 2 sisters and 2 of his cousins have already dealt with those) is not the only danger.

My environment is full of estrogen receptor agonists (an agonist is any molecule that binds to a receptor and elicits a response) that can increase my chances of getting one of those tumors. So I've been, slowly but surely, removing all the ER agonist containing stuff from my life.


  • I don't reheat anything in plastic - Plastic is made flexible by adding small molecules like phtalates and Bisphenol A. These are released if the plastic is heated, cracked, or if a liquid remains in it for quite a while. The solution: bowls and containers made of glass, food-grade stainless steel, or lead-free ceramics.
  • I am phasing out my cosmetics and personal care products (shampoos, conditioners, face and body wash, etc.) that contain parabens (like methyl parabezoic acid), placental extracts, or benzophenons. I have to give up the St. Ives apricot scrub and am not pleased.

For those of you equally concerned about reducing the risk of brest cancer, Cornell's Sprecher Institute has written a very nice article explaning the research done to ascertain this. They have videos explaining things too, but I have no idea how to embed them here. Go watch!