More on Bras and Breast Cancer…

Hello bOObs Bloggettes:

This is additional info to the past post I did on bras and deodorants, and goes into more research details I came across on the former. There are quite a few studies, it turns out.

Several physicians in my film agreed that bras may make women look “prettier” and help stabilize, but they aren’t necessarily the best thing for breast health. The constriction of bras slows down the natural lymphatic flow out of the breast, which helps get rid of toxins following cellular metabolic functions. The lymphatic system is connected to the blood vessel system and is one of the amazing ways the body protects us from ourselves and all of our bad habits, as well as injurious inflammation, etc.

When you have an inflammatory process brewing in your breast, you want to get rid of that inflammation as quickly as possible so it doesn’t become chronic (remember that breast cancer is an inflammatory process), which may lead to breast cancer.

So here’s some additional research for you; I found all this at this site where you can continue on your exploratory bra journey: https://brasandbreastcancer.org/supportive-references

1.Dr. John Mayo, a founder of the Mayo Clinic, wrote in “Susceptibility to Cancer”  (Annals of Surgery, 1931) that “Cancer of the breast occurs largely among civilized women. In those countries where breasts are allowed to be exposed, that is, are not compressed or irritated by clothing, it is rare.”   Further, a 1950 bra patent stated, “Many cases of breast cancer have been attributed to such breast constriction as caused by improperly fitted brassieres.” (“Dressed to Kill”, 2018 book edition)

2. The following citation caused much controversy as it came from Harvard (CC Hsieh, D Trichopoulos, 1991; “Breast size, handedness and breast cancer risk”, European J. of Cancer and Clinical Oncology).  The alarming quotation from this study was this: “Premenopausal women who do not wear bras had half the risk of breast cancer compared with bra users…”

3. The two medical anthropologists/researchers S.R. Singer and S. Grismaijer have written several books on the breast cancer (BC) and bra connection. Their 1991-93 “U.S. Bra and Breast Cancer Study” was published in their book “Dressed To Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras” (Second Edition, Square One Publishers, 2018). The scientists found that bra-free women have roughly the same incidence of BC as men and that wearing a bra around-the-clock increases BC incidence over 100 times that of a bra-free woman.

4. Singer and Grismaijer conducted a follow-up study in Fiji, which was published in “Get It Off!” (ISCD Press, 2000). They looked at women in a village who all had the same genetics and diet, but half were bra-free. They found that the only BC to occur happened in the women wearing bras, and none in the bra-free women. 

5. A Chinese study (Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao, 2009) found that sleeping braless lowered the risk of BC by 60%.  

So why do many cancer associations deny the connection between bras and BC in the face of this type of research (and more that was not mentioned above)? Well, take this blatant conflict of interest into consideration: “[The Lingerie company] Wacoal has guaranteed an aggregate minimum donation of $250,000 to Komen in 2016″ [Komen website]. How can women trust these types of organizations when they take Big Money from Big Firms that appear to sway their opinions? Hmmm…

**bOObs BOTTOM LINE:  Read my previous post on bras and deodorants and partake in the breast “exercises” to move the lymphatics. Don’t wear your bra while sleeping and not for more than 8 hours per day, if you can help it (let ’em air out, ladies!). Also replace your underwire bras with supportive yet “healthy breast bras” you can find at a good bra store.

Blog at you soon, thanks for reading and helping to spread the word!  (Please see the “share” links below.)  And we’d love to hear comments from you! (see below as well)

Stay healthy,

Megan

Megan Smith, M.S.
Director, bOObs: The War on Women’s Breasts

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