RESTORING BREAST
A naturopathic approach
November/December 1999
By LISE ALSCHULER, N.D.
P erfect, healthy breast tissue is smooth, of
even thickness throughout, and pain-free. Unfortunately, such
flawless breasts are hard to find. Most women experience at least
some degree of swelling, tenderness, lumpiness, or ropelike tissue
in their breasts.
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Why? One common reason is fibrocystic breast disease, a
noncancerous condition that affects up to 50 percent of women in
the United States aged thirty-five to fifty. Yet this estimate may
be conservative—some gynecologists assert that fibrocystic breast
tissue, or cystic mastitis, occurs to some degree in virtually all
women.
Although fibrocystic breast disease (FBD) is not cancer, nor a
definitive risk factor, the conditions that favor the development
of FBD also favor the development of breast cancer. In the opinion
of many practitioners, FBD should be viewed as a wake-up call and,
hopefully, should motivate healthy changes. Naturopathic management
of FBD combines lifestyle changes, nutritional supplementation, and
phytoestrogenic and detoxifying herbs—all contributors to overall
breast health.
Defining the problem
The term fibrocystic breast disease is actually a misnomer.
Although called a disease, it’s considered a benign breast
disorder. It generally refers to breast tissue with poorly defined
thickness or palpable lumps accompanied by pain. The lumpiness and
pain fluctuate with the menstrual cycle. Symptoms include:
• multiple soft, tender masses that vary in size and occur
mostly in the upper outer quadrant of both breasts
• ropey, irregularly shaped, tender masses that occur diffusely in
both breasts
• a combination of the above two
• swollen, diffusely tender breasts that are more tender just
before the menstrual period
• each cyst or fibrous mass merges at some point into the
surrounding breast tissue.
If one divides each breast into four quadrants, intersecting at
the nipple, the most common location for the lumps are in the upper
outer quadrants of each breast extending all the way up into the
underarm areas. The lumps may feel soft and fluid-filled or
thickened and fibrous. All these changes can occur without the
woman noticing. However, these changes can also produce pain in the
breasts.
Breast pain associated with FBD is usually cyclical, worse just
before menses and then disappearing afterward. This cycle is most
likely due to the changes in hormone levels throughout
menstruation. Both estrogen and prolactin, a pituitary hormone,
cause fibrocystic changes in the breast tissue. As the relative
concentration of estrogen (and prolactin) increases in the second
half of the menstrual cycle, the breast tissue, already sensitized
to estrogen, responds by retaining more fluid. Water accumulation
is accentuated in the areas of fibrocystic changes; this causes the
tissues to swell, compress nerve endings, and produce pain.
Inflammation is another effect of increased estrogen activity.
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