If you read the paper, listen to the news and try to keep up with information on the Internet, I am sure you hear
quite a bit of data about breast cancer. It is a topic that is written about frequently and I feel it is vital to stay current with
the latest news about treatment and possible prevention methods.
With that being said, I would like to address a interesting study that I came across in the media that I found worthy of discussion.
A team of US researchers led by Dr. Jagi Kumar at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida,
studied 5,000 women aged between 20 and 74 who had been treated for breast cancer. They compared medical histories and
lifestyles with a similar group of women free of breast cancer.
They found that the changes of developing a tumor dropped by 37 percent in women under 50 who drank tea at least three times daily.
But older women who drank a similar amount did not see any benefits, according to the study.
Researchers believe the anti-cancer properties of tea may have a more potent effect on the types of tumors that tend to grow in younger women.
The researchers also found even greater benefits when it came to "lobular" breast cancer, with tea reducing the risk by 66 per cent.
Lobular cancer, where cancer affects the lobes deep inside breast tissue, accounts for one in ten cases of the disease.
It can be hard to detect, so is often quite advanced by the time it is diagnosed. The researchers said, "Regular tea consumption,
particularly at moderately high levels, might reduce breast cancer risk in younger women. Given that tea is
the most common beverage consumed in the world, it makes an attractive candidate for breast cancer prevention."
Coming from England and growing up drinking tea at least 3 times a day, I was very excited to learn that it has another purpose besides comfort!
As we all know, early detection is the key to finding and fighting breast cancer. Be sure you are getting your yearly mammograms
and doing your monthly Breast Self-Exams.
