Fact: One of the more prevalent myths that scare women is the fear that wearing deodorant or antiperspirant will cause breast cancer. One of the theories is that antiperspirant prevents you from "sweating out" toxins, which then accumulate in the lymph nodes and consequently cause breast cancer; another is that the aluminum in antiperspirant is carcinogenic. In 2002, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle conclusively found no link between antiperspirant and breast cancer.
Another common deodorant rumor is that the body absorbs the chemicals in antiperspirants, like parabens, which then enter the bloodstream. One study in 2004 did find traces of parabens in a small sample of breast cancer tumors, but the study did not find any cause-and-effect connection, nor did it determine the source of the parabens, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
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Myth No. 2: Using hair relaxers increases the risk of breast cancer in African-American women
Fact: While breast cancer is less prevalent in African-American women than Caucasians, if an African-American is diagnosed with the disease her fatality rate is 37 percent higher than a white woman's. In fact, African-American women have the highest breast cancer mortality rate of all ethnic groups, according to the ACS. In 2007, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) set out to discover if the chemicals in hair relaxers commonly used by African-American women to straighten their hair could be to blame. The NCI conducted a study looking at African-American women who had used relaxers seven or more times every year for at least 20 years. The study's conclusion? You can head to the hair salon without fear. There is no link between hair relaxers and breast cancer.
Ahh, October. The leaves are falling, your man is caught up in baseball playoffs, you're wearing your deepest lipstick shades instead of gloss, and it looks like Pepto-Bismol exploded all over the country.
From pink, leopard-spotted rifles (yes, hunting rifles) to the Adam & Eve Natural Contours Pink Ribbon Vibrator, you can't take two steps without being reminded that it's Breast Cancer Awareness month.
We know you're rolling your eyes at the ridiculous number of salmon-hued paraphernalia inundating you this month. But if there's an upside to the pink product overkill, it's this: It often prompts us to slow down for a moment and wonder, "Am I really doing everything I can to prevent this life-threatening disease from happening to me?"
Sure it's easy to scoff at some of the more ridiculous behaviors that supposedly cause cancer, like gabbing on your cell phone for more than 10 minutes a day or eating too many French fries. But admit it -- instead of chalking these risk factors up to being totally ludicrous, you have a nagging suspicion that some of them might actually be true.
Breathe.
Before you drop $100 on a state-of-the-art cell phone headset or boycott McDonald's for good, keep reading. Dr. Ruemu E. Birhiray, MD, a leading oncologist in Indianapolis, debunks some of the most prevalent myths about what causes breast cancer, so we can focus on the risk factors that matter most.
