Debra was 18 years old when she found the first lump in her breast. “Then I noticed I had one in my other breast, almost identical and in the same position. I was terrified,” she recalls. “My mother took me to her doctor. He felt the lumps and without a word walked out of the room. He gave me a form to take to radiology. It was an order for a mammogram, and though I couldn’t make out the whole word, I could clearly read ‘cyst.’ I was sure I had cancer. “When I finally got the courage to ask the doctor what was wrong, he said that I had fibrocystic breast disease and that there was nothing I could do about it except become very familiar with my breasts, so I would know if I found anything new. He told me not to worry, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this ‘disease’ meant that cancer was next.
“Ten years and many lumps later, I finally understand what I have and that it’s not a disease. I also know I can make changes in my diet that will make my breasts less tender and reduce the lumpiness. I finally feel more comfortable about my breasts.”
Debra is not alone in her experience, according to Susan M. Lark, M.D., author of The PMS Self-Help Book and the Menopause Self-Help Book, director of the PMS and Menopause Self-Help Center in Los Altos, California, and a physician specializing in women’s health. Dr. Lark frequently treats women who have this frightening and often painful condition. “Being diagnosed with fibrocystic breasts is scary and confusing for a lot of women,” says Dr. Lark. In many cases, they can be helped by “natural, gentle treatments” such as nutrition, she adds.
First, however, it helps to understand how breasts become fibrocystic to begin with.
| Food Factors Ever wish that the food you eat would go straight to your bustline instead of your waistline? For women with fibrocystic breasts, that's often what happens, only not in a way they appreciate. Here are some dietary changes that doctors recommend to lessen the pain and lumpiness of fibrocystic breasts. Cool the coffee habit. Some experts consider reducing caffeine consumption to be the best, most cost-effective treatment for fibrocystic breasts. That's because caffeine apparently stimulates estrogen production and promotes swollen, painful breasts. According to researchers at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing, women who ingest more than 500 milligrams of caffeine a day, the amount in about four cups of coffee, are at 2.3 times greater risk of fibrocystic breasts than those who abstain. And those who eliminate caffeine from their diets, the researchers say, experience a 60 to 65 percent reduction in symptoms. Other sources of caffeine include tea, Trim the fat. "Eating too much saturated fat increases estrogen levels and stimulates fibrocystic changes," says Susan M. Lark, M.D., author of PMS: Self-Help Book and Menopause: Self-Help Book, director of the PMS and Menopause Self-Help Center in Los Altos, California, and a physician specializing in women's health. Dr. Lark recommends that women avoid animal fat whenever possible. That means cutting back on meats and eating nonfat dairy products. Power up with bran. "A good complement to cutting fat is boosting fiber," says David P. Rose, M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D., chief of the
Division of Nutrition and Endocrinology at the Naylor Dana Institute of the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, New York. "Fiber absorbs estrogen and helps excrete it from the body," says Dr. Rose. He recommends that women increase their fiber intakes to 25 to 30 grams a day, roughly double what most women eat. You can increase your fiber intake by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Lean toward teetotalism. "The liver is responsible for detoxifying circulating estrogen, and alcohol is toxic to the liver," says Dr. Lark. "I suggest that women with fibrocystic breasts avoid drinking or limit their alcohol intakes." Lower the sodium. Doctors have found that benign breast cysts are affected by how much fluid you retain. Since sodium makes you hold water, many doctors recommend limiting salt intake to less than 1,500 milligrams a day. (That's not much salt; one teaspoon contains 2,000 milligrams of sodium.) Eat your diuretics. A diuretic is a substance that helps your body get rid of excess water. As a sodium-cutting complement, Dr. Lark recommends that women increase their intakes of naturally diuretic foods such as parsley, celery and cucumbers, which can help decrease fluid retention. |
Taking Your Lumps
Fibrocystic breasts is a term for nothing more than lumpy breasts, a condition that affects about 70 percent of women at some time in their lives, usually during their childbearing years. It is very likely that once a woman reaches menopause, her cysts will shrink or even disappear. Some postmenopausal women may experience fibrocystic breasts as a consequence of hormone replacement therapy if the dosage of estrogen is too high.
For most women, the condition means lumps ranging from tiny, BB size to larger, egg size. These lumps recur monthly as estrogen stimulates milk glands in the breasts, causing the glands to accumulate fluid and swell. For other women, it means lasting cysts that result from milk ducts that clog and don’t drain. Some women even experience a little discharge from their nipples. Though they aren’t life-threatening, swollen, fibrocystic breasts can be both physically painful and emotionally stressful.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for this condition, only potential treatments. Because it’s hormone-triggered, doctors advise that the best strategy for relieving fibrocystic pain and lumpiness is to decrease the levels of the female hormone estrogen circulating in your blood. Though hormone therapy is one approach, some experts, including Dr. Lark, maintain that nutritional regimens can work just as well without the side effects of hormone therapy. Here’s what they recommend.
Note: Even if you have fibrocystic breasts, it’s always important to have every new lump or breast change checked by your doctor, says Dr. Lark.
| Evening Primrose Relief Want relief from swollen, tender fibrocystic breasts without the side effects of hormone therapy? Evening primrose oil--a rich source of gamma-linolenic acid, which your body uses to regulate its salt and water balance--could be your answer. Welsh researchers who have studied the supplement for nearly 20 years now recommend it as the first line of treatment to relieve the pain of fibrocystic breasts without side effects. "Evening primrose oil is a common treatment," says Susan M. Lark, M.D., author of PMS: Self-Help Book and Menopause: Self-Help Book, director of the PMS and Menopause Self-Help Center in Los Altos, California, and a physician specializing in women's health. "It's a good source of essential fatty acids, and it has a diuretic and anti-inflammatory effect on the body." For relief from breast pain and lumps, some experts recommend taking 1,000 milligrams three times daily for a period of three months. Before you start with supplementation, check with your doctor. |
Ease Fibrocystic Breasts with E
Although clinical studies during the past decade have yielded mixed results and no research has been done recently, vitamin E remains a commonly recommended supplement for treating fibrocystic breasts—one that many doctors swear by.
“Honestly, I don’t think anyone can tell you exactly why vitamin E works against fibrocystic breasts,” says Dr. Lark. “We know just that it relieves symptoms caused by excessive estrogen levels and that it has an anti-inflammatory effect that gives many women relief from their symptoms.”
Echoing those sentiments is Bernard Ginsberg, M.D., a physician in private practice in Santa Monica, California, who became interested in the value of vitamin therapy while working at the Research Institute at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore with Robert London, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
“I was doubtful about it in the beginning, but during the past ten years, I’ve found that vitamin therapy can really make a difference,” says Dr. Ginsberg, who has concentrated much of his practice on women’s health and natural healing. “Vitamin E, along with vitamin B6, counteracts the swelling effects of estrogen. It also increases the metabolism of female hormones, getting them out of circulation.”
Both Dr. Lark and Dr. Ginsberg recommend that women with fibrocystic breasts take about 600 international units of vitamin E daily, an amount that was used and found to be successful in several studies of vitamin E and fibrocystic breasts, says Dr. Lark.
It is impossible to get such high amounts of vitamin E without supplementation. But adding almonds, wheat germ and sunflower oil or safflower oil to your daily fare can give you a healthy boost of this helpful nutrient.
Extra Help from Vitamin A
Pointing to a promising pilot study of the effects of vitamin A on fibrocystic breasts as well as her own work with her patients, Dr. Lark believes that this potent nutrient may also be effective for soothing sore, lumpy breasts.
In this study, which was conducted at the University of Montreal, 12 women with moderate to severe breast pain were given high doses of vitamin A for three months. Nine of the women experienced significant pain relief, and 5 of the women experienced decreases in breast lumps. The bad news is that the dosage in that study was 150,000 international units a day, an amount 30 times the Daily Value and one with which few experts feel comfortable, since vitamin A is toxic in high doses.
“From my experience, I believe that women who have substantial breast pain from benign breast disease are likely to get relief from vitamin A,” says the study’s lead researcher, Pierre R. Band, M.D., head of epidemiology at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver. “But you are dealing with a potentially toxic compound, so you have to be careful. Researchers have studied the effects of lower doses of vitamin A than what I used and have received good results, so it is promising, but we need more investigation.”
“My answer is to use beta-carotene instead,” says Dr. Lark. She suggests taking between 25,000 and 50,000 international units of beta-carotene a day for fibrocystic breasts. “Beta-carotene, also called preformed vitamin A, converts to vitamin A in the body, and you don’t have to worry about toxicity with large doses,” she explains.
While you can buy beta-carotene supplements, it’s easy to get all of the beta-carotene you need just by eating plenty of orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, says Dr. Lark. One sweet potato alone, for instance, packs a beta-carotene punch of 10,000 international units.
Better Breasts with B6
Although scientific tests have yet to be done, some doctors who treat women for fibrocystic breasts also recommend vitamin B6 because of its known importance in maintaining normal hormone levels.
“The women I treat find that it’s useful in reducing swelling,” says Dr. Ginsberg. He recommends taking 50 milligrams of vitamin B6 two or three times a day before breast pain and tenderness occur, which is usually during the week prior to menstruation. But be sure to consult your doctor before exceeding 100 milligrams of B6 a day, since large doses have resulted in nerve damage.
To increase your vitamin B6 intake from foods, try slicing a banana on your morning cereal and adding a baked potato to your evening meal.
Iodine on the Horizon
According to researchers, iodine might be the wave of the future for fibrocystic breast relief. Before you reach for the saltshaker, however, you should know that iodized salt will likely not be of much help. The iodine experts are recommending diatomic iodine, and these supplements are still awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
So far, though, the results of studies using diatomic iodine to treat fibrocystic breasts look promising. In one five-year study at Hotel Dieu Hospital at Queen’s University at Kingston in Ontario, more than 1,000 women were supplemented with sodium iodide (that’s what is in iodized salt), protein-bound iodide or diatomic iodine. Researchers found that diatomic iodine reduced breast pain in the most women, and with the fewest side effects.
“Sodium iodide is marginally helpful, because about 5 percent of it breaks down into elemental iodine in the body,” explains one of the lead researchers, Bernard A. Eskin, M.D., of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “But you need much more sodium iodide for the same effects as elemental iodine, and that much causes greater side effects.” Plus too much sodium leads to fluid retention, which can aggravate already swollen breasts.
The researchers believe that iodine prevents fibrocystic breast symptoms by making cells in the milk ducts less sensitive to circulating estrogen. They are hopeful that a supplement containing diatomic iodine, Amydine, will be available within a few years.
In the meantime, you may reap a few benefits by eating iodine-rich foods such as seafood and seaweed and by making sure to get the Daily Value of 150 micrograms of iodine, concedes Dr. Eskin. Your best results, he says, will come from the supplement once it is available.
Note: The iodine in your medicine cabinet is poisonous and should not be ingested for any reason.
| Prescriptions for Healing Doctors can't promise that anything will lessen breast pain and lumpiness for sure, but some experts have had some success with these nutrients. Nutrient Daily Amount
Beta-carotene 25,000-50,000 international units Iodine 150 micrograms Vitamin B6 100-150 milligrams, taken as 2 or 3
divided doses Vitamin E 600 international units
MEDICAL ALERT: If you feel any new or unusual lump in your breasts, check with your doctor for a complete diagnosis. Iodine supplements are not yet available, and the iodine in your medicine cabinet is poisonous. Until the supplement is available, you must get your iodine from food sources. Be sure to consult your doctor before exceeding 100 milligrams of vitamin B6 a day, since large doses have resulted in nerve damage. If you are taking anticoagulant drugs, you should not take vitamin E supplements. |
