Phthalates

Early on in 'The Graduate', Dustin Hoffman, as Benjamin, receives some career advice:

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

At the time -1967 - even Mr. McGuire couldn’t have envisioned the sheer range and staying power that plastic would display. Forty years on, two images have made this plain. One is Chris Jordan’s photo of the plastic objects, from bottle tops to cigarette lighters, that turn up in the stomach of an albatross chick on Midway Atoll, 2,000 miles from the nearest continent. The other is the area now sketched on maps called the Pacific Garbage Patch, created by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. Some say this vortex of floating plastic is the size of Texas; others say it’s the size of America.



Someone mentioned phthalates on one of the discussion boards on Breastcancer.org. The more I learn about the toxic chemicals that we are exposed to every day, the more I worry.

I added phthalates to my cancer glossary.

Eliminating all phthalates is impossible, but we can reduce our exposure:

1. Stay away from fragrance. Unfortunately, you will very rarely see phthalates listed on a product label - particularly if you're worried about a rubber ducky. There are clues. When it comes to cosmetics, the word "fragrance' or 'parfum' on a label almost always means phthalates. What you want to see are claims like: 'no synthetic fragrance' or 'scented with only essential oils' or 'phthalate-free.' And always use only natural air fresheners.

2. Crack the code. Plastic products with recycling codes 3 and 7 may contain phthalates or BPA. Look for plastic with recycling codes 1, 2, or 5.

3. Ditch hand-me-down plastic toys. Several types of phthalates are now banned from children's toys, teethers, bottles, and feeding products. But these laws only took place in 2009, so anything made of soft plastic that was manufactured before that probably contains phthalates (think rubber duckies, not Legos).

4. Avoid plastic whenever possible, and never heat your food in plastic. Foods that are higher in fat - meats and cheeses, for instance - are particularly prone to chemical leaching. Even BPA or phthalate-free plastic may contain harmful chemicals. Opt for glass food storage containers, and choose bottles and sippy and snack cups that are mostly stainless steel, silicone, or glass.

5. Eat organic produce, meat, and dairy. Phthalates are used in pesticides and are also found in sewage sludge that is used in conventional agriculture. Neither is permitted on certified organic produce, and pesticide-treated animal feeds are not allowed in organic meat and dairy production.

6. Invest in a water filter. Granular activated carbon filters should remove DEHP, which is the type of phthalate used in water pipes. Unfortunately, some sources claim that a percentage of water may pass through the carbon without filtration. A nano-filtration system is more expensive but possibly a more reliable way to filter out phthalates.

7. Use your dollars to make sense, not scents. Several manufacturers have sworn off the use of phthalates due to consumer pressure. Others have never used these chemicals. Learn more about where to find the good stuff at www.ewg.org/skindeep.

Why are phthalates dangerous?

Phthalates like parabens are also known to be hormone-mimicking chemicals which disrupt normal hormonal processes. And, also like parabens, they are frequently included in our cosmetic and body care products. Phthalates have been found to cause a broad range of birth defects and lifelong reproductive problems in laboratory animals exposed to them during pregnancy and after birth. 

The US Environmental Protection Agency lists phthalates as 'Chemicals of Concern'. (Think Before You Pink)

Phthalates are esters of phthalic acid used principally as plasticizers to increase flexibility, transparency, durability and longevity in a large variety of products - including personal-care products, nail polish, fragrances, enteric coatings on pharmaceutical tablets and nutritional supplements, detergents and surfactants, packaging materials, PVC shower curtains, pharmaceuticals, food products, children’s toys, paints, printing inks, lubricants, emulsifying agents, adhesives and glues, vinyl flooring, electronics, building materials, medical devices, food additives, textiles, and inert ingredients in pesticides. (Wikipedia, 2014)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found most of the people they tested in the US had metabolites of multiple phthalates in their urine. Recent human bio-monitoring data found the 'tolerable intake' of phthalates for children to be far exceeded, in some instances up to 20-fold. (Wikipedia, 2014)

Phthlates have been found to interfere with the production of male reproductive hormones in laboratory animals. These effects include lower testosterone level, decreased sperm count and lower sperm quality. Exposure to phthalates during gestation can also cause malformations of the male reproductive tract and testicular cancer. (Natural Resources Defense Council, undated)

Because phthalates are not chemically bound to products, they easily off-gas - especially with heat. Exposure to phthalates is by ingestion, inhalation, and applying products which contain them to the skin. (Natural Resources Defense Council, undated)

Wikipedia has a table listing 25 of the most common phthalates along with the abbreviations you might see on product ingredients lists.

Phthalates are banned in cosmetics sold in the EU but not in the US. In this country, they are allowed in color cosmetics, scented lotions, body washes, hair care products, nail polishes and treatments. They may appear on the labels of these products as phthalate, DEP, DBP or simply as 'fragrance' (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, 2011) or they may not appear on the ingredients list at all. (Berl, 2012)

How about those cosmetic companies, you know the ones, and their complete disregard for our health and well-being!

And the plastics industry!

Genomic Testing / Risk of Recurrence

I just finished reading the following article on Breastcancer.org.

On November 10th, I will see Dr. Gupta, an oncologist, to discuss my 'targeted therapy' which will include hormonal therapy treatment (Arimidex). I will ask him about my risk of recurrence (which is 4%) and whether taking Arimidex for 10 years will be beneficial.

The genetic testing being performed in the last 5 years is amazing. If there is no benefit to taking certain medication beyond the 5-year mark, why take it for 10 years?

~~~~~~~~

"Genomic Test Helps Estimate Risk of Recurrence More Than 5 Years After Diagnosis for Some Breast Cancers

Published on October 29, 2014 at 8:46 AM

TOPIC: Screening and Testing

A genomic test (also called a genomic assay) analyzes the activity of a group of genes linked to the risk of a particular disease. The tests are done on blood or tissue samples. For example, a genomic test may help figure out if a woman diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer has a high, medium, or low risk of recurrence (the cancer coming back), as well as if she’s likely to benefit from chemotherapy to reduce that risk.

A study has found that the Prosigna Breast Cancer Prognostic Gene Signature Assay (formerly called the PAM50 test) can help predict the risk of distant recurrence (the cancer coming back in a part of the body away from the breast) for early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer after 5 years of hormonal therapy treatment in postmenopausal women.

The study was published online on Oct. 20, 2014 by the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Read the abstract of “Prediction of Late Distant Recurrence After 5 Years of Endocrine Treatment: A Combined Analysis of Patients From the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group 8 and Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination Randomized Trials Using the PAM50 Risk of Recurrence Score.”

The Prosigna test was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2013. The test received the CE mark, which is Europe’s approval, in 2012.

The test looks at the activity of 58 genes (called the PAM50 gene signature) in early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Based on these activity levels, Prosigna test results are reported as a risk of recurrence (ROR) score in two ways:

● node-negative cancers are classified as low (0-40), intermediate (41-60), or high (61-100) risk

● node-positive cancers are classified as low (0-40) or high (41-100) risk

In this study, the researchers wanted to see if the Prosigna test could accurately estimate the risk of distant recurrence for postmenopausal women diagnosed with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive disease after they’d received 5 years of hormonal therapy. Knowing this could help doctors decide which women should stay on hormonal therapy for 10 years rather than stopping after 5 years.

The women in this study were all part of two studies that had already been done, so the researchers knew how many women had had a distant recurrence -- the point of the study was to see how accurate the Prosigna test’s predictions were.

The researchers looked at the records of more than 2,100 women in two studies:

● Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group 8 (ABCSG 8)

● Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination translational research cohort (TransATAC)

None of the women had had a recurrence in the 5 years after diagnosis while they were being treated with hormonal therapy. Also, none of the women had been treated with chemotherapy. The women had been followed for about 10 years after being diagnosed.

The ABCSG 8 study compared 5 years of tamoxifen to 2 years of tamoxifen followed by 3 years of Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole) to treat early-stage, hormone-receptor positive disease in postmenopausal women.

The ATAC study compared 5 years of tamoxifen to 5 years of Arimidex to treat early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive disease in postmenopausal women. The TransATAC cohort was a subset of women from the ATAC study from whom breast cancer tissue samples were collected and stored.

The researchers tested cancer tissue samples from the women with the Prosigna test and recorded the risk of recurrence score for each breast cancer. They also looked at the clinical treatment score for each cancer. The clinical treatment score is based on:

cancer size

cancer grade

women’s age

how many, if any, lymph nodes are involved

cancer treatment

The researchers found that the clinical treatment score was the best predictor of distant recurrence up to 5 years after diagnosis. The Prosigna risk of recurrence score also helped estimate the risk of distant recurrence in the 5 years after diagnosis, but wasn’t as accurate as the clinical treatment score.

From 5 to 10 years after diagnosis:

● the clinical treatment score offered the most accurate estimate of distant recurrence overall and for women who had positive lymph nodes

● the Prosigna risk of recurrence score offered the most accurate estimate of distant recurrence for women with negative lymph nodes and women with negative lymph nodes and HER2-negative breast cancer

Knowing whether a woman has a high or low risk of breast cancer coming back in a part of the body away from the breast more than 5 years after diagnosis can help doctors decide how long hormonal therapy medicine should be taken. Research has shown that taking tamoxifen for 10 years instead of 5 years can better lower the risk of recurrence and improve overall survival for some women. If doctors knew that a woman had a low risk of distant recurrence, they could spare her the extra 5 years of hormonal therapy treatment. At the same time, women at high risk would benefit from the extra 5 years of treatment.

When making treatment decisions, you and your doctor will consider a number of factors, including:

your age

your menopausal status

the size of the cancer

hormone receptor status

cancer grade

the results of any genomic tests, if you’ve had them

Armed with the best information possible, you and your doctor can decide on a treatment plan that makes the most sense for your unique situation."

Resilience

My cousin Nicole bought me Oprah's 'What I Know for Sure' ...

My favorite chapter is the one entitled Resilience.

'The only way to endure the quake is to adjust your stance. You can't avoid the daily tremors. They come with being alive.'

So true!

Maria, we've come a long way from 7th & Chestnut, and if you're reading this post, adjust your stance. I heard about the 'plug the budge' and I was floored by it. I mean, the phrase itself pretty much sums up what you're dealing with. You're 'ducks are all in a row' so don't worry too much about the drama.

I'm not a religious person but the words of Isaiah 54:17: 'No weapon formed against you shall prosper' ring true.

I can't understand how a huge corporation, a global one, would allow cronyism. Bullying and showing preference to certain workers, all while allowing 'favorites' to pay relatives to come in and mop the floors, is unf#@kingbelievable!



Hang in there friend ...

8 things you didn't know about Halloween

While you're waiting for the little ghosts and goblins to come by for some candy, you might find Ruth Tam's Halloween article interesting.

Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!

~~~~~~~~

BY RUTH TAM  October 31, 2014 (PBS)



1. It was the baby boomers who made trick or treating what it is today.

A movement to start trick or treating began in the late 20s and early 30s. But, according to Susan Whiteside of the National Confectioners Association, it wasn’t until post-World War II and the end of sugar rationing that it really took off.

As a result, baby boomers are the first generation to have trick or treated both as kids and also grandparents.

Halloween was once considered a kids-only holiday with apple bobbing and taffy pulls. But as it evolved with the boomers, it’s become both an event popular with families and adults.

-Ruth Tam

2. Vampires legends come from corpses dug up in the Middle Ages.

Myths of classic blood-sucking monsters were likely linked to diseases that spread through Europe in the Middle Ages, according to Matt Kaplan, science correspondent for The Economist and author of “The Science of Monsters.” People visiting loved ones on their deathbeds picked up lethal diseases like tuberculosis and mysteriously died weeks later, he said. Without modern epidemiology, it was unknown how the illnesses had spread.

Occasionally the bodies were dug up. And the stages a body goes through as it decomposes combined with the mysteries of the disease itself may have given rise to common vampire and monster traits.

“If you take a corpse and you let it sit in the ground, the bacteria inside are still having a fiesta,” Kaplan said. “They’re producing gases, and they can push vital fluids past the mouth. It looks like the teeth are stained with blood. No one had really looked at that before. And people were freaking out over the concept of something coming back from the dead.”

Decaying skin pulled away from the teeth and nails may have looked like claws and fangs, he added. And gases moving around inside the body gave the appearance of “breathing.”

-Rebecca Jacobson

3. There’s archeological evidence for Middle Age vampire hunts

Vampires in contemporary pop culture are often demonic aristocrats or people plagued by a virus. But in the 1600 and 1700s, it was believed that people became vampires because they had been criminals in life or had done sinful things, said Titus Hjelm, lecturer at University College London. And believe it or not, some evidence for vampire hunters exists. Archeologists recently unearthed decapitated bodies — skulls with bricks shoved in their mouths and skeletons with stakes through their chests — in medieval graves of Bulgaria and Poland. These “deviant burials” could have been suspected vampires, but we will never know for sure, Hjelm said.

-Rebecca Jacobson

4. If your house is haunted, you just might be able to back out of your contract.

Caveat emptor (“Let the buyer beware” in Latin) is a principle of common law relating to the sale of property. It means that if a buyer purchases property, they do so at their own risk. In 1991, a New York court of appeals found reason to challenge the principle — over a haunted house.

In 1989, Helen Ackley repeatedly described seeing ghosts in her Nyack, New York home to Readers Digest and local media. But when she sold the house, she hid its haunted history from the buyer, Jeffrey Stambovsky, who put down a $32,500 payment. When Stambovsky learned it was believed to be haunted, he attempted to back out of the sale. Ackley refused, and he sued. A trial court dismissed the action, but Stambovsky appealed, and a New York appellate court ruled that Ackley might have a point. The case traveled through the court system. And while the New York court has no records of the final ruling, the appellate court documents quote both Hamlet and Ghostbusters.

-Ruth Tam

5. Weird party games helped secularize Halloween

Halloween is associated with costumes, candy, mischief and spooky, supernatural phenomena. But that wasn’t always the case, according to Nicholas Rogers, a history professor at York University and author of “Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night.”

Halloween falls on the eve of All Saints’ Day within the Roman Catholic Church. But after Scottish and Irish immigrants moved to the United States and Canada in the late 1800s, it started to lose its Christian connotations. As the holiday became more of a fixture in popular culture, it became more commercialized and secular, Rogers says. People played games to foretell the future, including interpreting the shape of uprooted cabbage stems to predict a future husband’s character, or finding a potato with a hidden ring or sixpence that guaranteed a year of good luck.

Claims that Halloween is a time of evil, Rogers says, “totally ignore the fact that Halloween has its origins in a Christian holiday.”

-Laura Santhanam 

6. The U.S. Defense Department has a zombie apocalypse plan

The document is called “CONOP 8888” and known internally as “Counter-Zombie Dominance.” On the second page, there’s a disclaimer that explicitly states that “this plan was not actually designed as a joke” but instead as a creative way to train students about city protection in the military’s Joint Combined Warfighting School.

When instructors train students about protecting citizens during warfare, they’re careful about writing hypothetical situations into their lessons, reported Foreign Policy. Rather than risk political fallout from writing a “fictional ‘Tunisia’ or ‘Nigeria’” into their lessons, they “elected to use a completely-impossible scenario that could never be mistaken as a real plan.”

Apparently, because the plan is so ridiculous, it actually serves as a better teaching tool for military planners.

-Ruth Tam

7. ‘War Of The Worlds,” a “real-life” scary story, did not actually cause widespread panic

It’s been 76 years since radio host Orson Welles’ broadcast the notorious drama “War of the Worlds” over the airwaves. War of the Worlds was a fake news broadcast that warned Americans of a worldwide alien invasion. Reports at the time said the radio drama caused widespread panic for more than a million people, later launching debates over abuse of the media. But more recent reports say it didn’t reach nearly as many as originally reported.

In an article for Slate, Jefferson Pooley, an associate professor of media and communication at Muhlenberg College, and Michael Socolow, an associate professor of Communication and Journalism at the University of Maine, say the “panic” was in fact so miniscule that it was “practically immeasurable” the night of broadcast. A ratings service polled 5,000 households that night for a radio audience survey and only two percent of responders said that they were listening to the program.

So if only 100 households out of 5,000 polled said that they were listening, how did the drama cause widespread panic? “

“Newspapers,” said W. Joseph Campbell, a communications professor at American University.

At the time, print media was feeling pressure from radio as a competitor and feared radio was becoming the “go-to source for news and advertising.” Under that pressure, newspapers “pummeled” radio, rebuking it as an untrustworthy medium.

Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst claimed the program “caused millions of people to think the broadcast was real,” said Campbell. “This overwhelming negative commentary helped solidify the mass hysteria.”

-Joshua Barajas and Ruth Tam

8. Pumpkin carving was an Irish tradition that helped save small American farms

Before the 19th century, Irish carved turnips into lanterns during the Celtic festival of Samhain, believing that the light would keep the spirits away from their homes. When waves of Irish immigrants moved into American cities, the pumpkin became a natural substitute. Pumpkins had always been a symbol of American abundance, growing out of control like weeds. But by the 18th and 19th century, they weren’t a popular food, says Cindy Ott, author of “Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon.” Irish immigrants brought the pumpkins inside as decoration, giving them faces and spooky personas as part of a parlor game.

“They’re creepy little guys,” Ott said, pointing to 19th century drawings of jack o’lanterns with arms and legs. “It’s like a little personality. It’s not just a vegetable.”

The gourd lanterns breathed new life into small American farms, Ott says. By the 1980s and 1990s, harvesting pumpkins turned into a booming local business.

“It’s that popularity of the jack o’lantern and [pumpkin] pie that helped rejuvenate the small farm,” Ott said. “(Harvesting pumpkins) was a laborious thing to do in 1742 but now it’s a form of recreation.”

-Ruth Tam

Pain

I stopped by Dr. Frazier's office last night and picked up a prescription for Tylenol-3. Took one last night.

Delaudid. Percocet. Codeine.

The swelling and the pain under my arm is unbelievable. It's normal.

I'm still trying to adjust to my 'new normal' ...

If I can get through work today, then I can do anything!

Go Royals!

Watching game 7 of the World Series, our favorite past time. Top of the 5th inning and the Giants are up 3 - 2. I want Kansas City to win (the underdogs). San Francisco has won 3 of the last 5. It would be nice to see the Royals win. Their 3rd baseman is Greek-American, Mike Moustakas. He wears the number 8 which happens to be my favorite number.



As in any sport, it gets boring watching the same teams win championships.

'Take me out to the ball game ... and it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game.'

Go Royals!

Herceptin and HER2+ breast cancer

Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab) is a targeted therapy medicine used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer.

Results from an analysis of two large, long-term studies show that adding Herceptin to chemotherapy to treat women diagnosed with early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer improves overall survival and disease-free survival compared to chemotherapy alone.

The study was published online on Oct. 20, 2014 by the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Read the abstract of “Trastuzumab Plus Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive Breast Cancer: Planned Joint Analysis of Overall Survival From NSABP B-31 and NCCTG N9831.”

Overall survival is how long a woman lives, with or without the cancer growing. Disease-free survival is how long a woman lives without the cancer growing.

HER2-positive breast cancers make too much of the HER2 protein. The HER2 protein sits on the surface of cancer cells and receives signals that tell the cancer to grow and spread. About one out of every four breast cancers is HER2-positive. HER2-positive breast cancers tend to be more aggressive and harder to treat than HER2-negative breast cancers.

Herceptin works by attaching to the HER2 protein and blocking it from receiving growth signals. Herceptin, which is given intravenously, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to:

treat advanced-stage, HER2-positive breast cancers

be given to women with earlier stages of HER2-positive disease as adjuvant treatment (treatment after initial treatment, such as surgery) either alone or as part of a regimen with chemotherapy

The analysis looked at long-term results from two studies:

N9831, led by the North Central Cancer Treatment Group Alliance, and NRG B-31, led by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project

More than 4,000 women diagnosed with early-stage, HER2-positive breast cancer were in the two studies, both of which looked at whether adding Herceptin to a standard chemotherapy regimen after surgery offered more benefits than the chemotherapy regimen alone. In each study, the women were randomly assigned to receive one of two regimens:

Adriamycin (chemical name: doxorubicin) plus Cytoxan (chemical name: cyclophosphamide) followed by Taxol (chemical name: paclitaxel)

Adriamycin (chemical name: doxorubicin) plus Cytoxan (chemical name: cyclophosphamide) followed by Taxol (chemical name: paclitaxel) plus Herceptin

At 10 years after treatment, overall survival was better in women who were treated with Herceptin:

84% of the women who received chemotherapy plus Herceptin were alive

75.2% of the women who received chemotherapy alone were alive

This means that overall survival was 37% better in women who got Herceptin plus chemotherapy compared to women who got only chemotherapy.

At 10 years after treatment, disease-free survival also was better in women who were treated with Herceptin:

73.7% of the women who received chemotherapy plus Herceptin were alive without the cancer growing

62.2% of the women who received chemotherapy alone were alive without the cancer growing
This means that disease-free survival was 40% better in women who got Herceptin plus chemotherapy compared to women who got only chemotherapy.

Herceptin may cause side effects, including:

high blood pressure
joint and back pain
hot flashes
headache
diarrhea

Some women getting Herceptin will have decreased heart function during treatment. In rare cases, heart failure can develop. Other studies have shown that heart problems caused by Herceptin are more likely to happen in older women, women with diabetes, and women with preexisting risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. Heart function can recover when Herceptin treatment stops.

In this study, women who got Herceptin had a very slight increase in the risk of heart problems:

0.2% of the women who were treated with Herceptin died from heart problems

0.1% of the women who were treated with chemotherapy alone died from heart problems

The findings demonstrate how important Herceptin has been to the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer, according to Edith Perez, M.D., lead author of the study and deputy director at large of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and director of the Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Dr. Perez also is a member of the Breastcancer.org Professional Advisory Board.

ΟΧΙ - 28ης Οκτωβρίου 1940

Τί απαντάει η επιστήμη ενάντια στους εθνικούς μεταπολιτευτικούς μύθους για το ΟΧΙ Μεταξά και ελληνικού λαού.

Κάθε χρόνο, η επέτειος της 28ης Οκτωβρίου και του ΟΧΙ γίνεται αφορμή για τη διεξαγωγή μιας ιδιότυπης ιστορικής συζήτησης. Το ζήτημα είναι ενδεικτικό της σύγχυσης και των ενοχικών συνδρόμων που επικρατούν στην Ελλάδα σε σχέση με την ιστορία και τον τρόπο μελέτης της.

Αρχικά υπάρχει ο μύθος οτι ο ελληνικός λαός «εξανάγκασε» τον δικτάτορα Ιωάννη Μεταξά να πει το ΟΧΙ στη φασιστική Ιταλία. Η άποψη αυτή στερείται εγκυρότητας καθώς αδυνατεί να εξηγήσει πως σε μια δικτατορία όπου κυριαρχεί η λογοκρισία μπορεί ο λαός να εκφράσει τη βούληση του και μάλιστα να εξαναγκάσει το δικτάτορα να τη δεχθεί.

Επιπλέον, η περίπτωση του Ιωάννη Μεταξά είναι ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρουσα για την πολιτική επιστήμη και την ιστορία, καθώς είναι ένας εκ των ελαχίστων πολιτικών που άφησε ένα πλήρες προσωπικό ημερολόγιο, στο οποίο αποτυπώνονται οι σκέψεις του σχεδόν σε ημερήσια βάση.

Αν λοιπόν κάποιος μπει στον κόπο να μελετήσει το ημερολόγιο του Ιωάννη Μεταξά, θα διαπιστώσει ότι η απόφαση του να συνταχθεί με τη Βρετανία σε περίπτωση πολέμου με τον Άξονα είχε ληφθεί ήδη από το 1936, χρονιά κατά την οποία ο Μεταξάς ανέβηκε στην εξουσία.

Το φθινόπωρο του 1936 ο Ιωάννης Μεταξάς παρέστη σε συνεδρίαση του Ανωτάτου Ναυτικού Συμβουλίου στο Γενικό Επιτελείο Ναυτικού και μεταξύ άλλων δήλωσε:

«Αυτό που θα σας είπω δεν θα το ανακοινώσετε εις κανένα. Προβλέπω πόλεμον μεταξύ του Αγγλικού και του Γερμανικού συγκροτήματος. Πόλεμον πολύ χειρότερον από τον προηγούμενον. Εις τον πόλεμον αυτόν θα κάνω ό,τι ημπορώ δια να μην εμπλακή η Ελλάς, αλλά τούτο δυστυχώς θα είναι αδύνατον. Είναι περιττόν να σας είπω ότι η θέσις μας εις την σύρραξιν αυτήν θα είναι παρά το πλευρόν της Αγγλίας. Επαναλαμβάνω και πάλιν: Το τελευταίον αυτό, προπαντός, να μην εξέλθη της αιθούσης ταύτης».

Ένας άλλος μύθος ο οποίος καλλιεργείται συστηματικά στην ελληνική κοινωνία είναι ότι στον ελληνοϊταλικό πόλεμο του 1940, η Ελλάδα ήταν «ο μικρός Δαβίδ που αντιμετώπισε τον ιταλικό Γολιάθ».

Μια πιο επισταμένη ματιά στην ιστορία μας επιτρέπει να δούμε ότι η Ελλάδα του 1940 όχι μόνο δεν ήταν Δαβίδ αλλά ήταν μια χώρα αξιόμαχη, ο στρατός της οποίας είχε αναδιοργανωθεί εκ βάθρων από το μεταξικό καθεστώς. Άλλωστε από μόνη της η «γραμμή Μεταξά» πιστοποιεί τη σπουδή με την οποία το καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου προετοιμάστηκε για τον πόλεμο.

Αλλά και μια εκτενής ματιά στην οργάνωση του ιταλικού στρατού εκείνη την περίοδο πιστοποιεί την ανετοιμότητα του ιταλικού στρατού και τις φανφάρες του Μουσολίνι για τις περιώνυμες «1.000.000 λόγχες».

Πέρα από όλα όμως, το πλέον σημαντικό στοιχείο για το τι συνέβη τα ξημερώματα της 28ης Οκτωβρίου του 1940, μας το δίνει ο ίδιος ο Γκράτσι, που φρόντισε να καταγράψει την ακριβή του συνομιλία με τον Μεταξά στο βιβλίο του «Η αρχή του τέλους – η επιχείρηση κατά της Ελλάδος»

«…μόλις καθίσαμε, και επειδή η ώρα ήταν λίγα λεπτά μετά τις 3, του είπα αμέσως ότι η Κυβέρνησίς μου, μου είχε αναθέσει να το εγχειρίσω προσωπικά ένα κείμενο, που δεν ήτο τίποτε άλλο, παρά το τελεσίγραφον της Ιταλίας προς την Ελλάδα, με το οποίον η Ιταλική Κυβέρνηση απαιτούσε την ελεύθερη διέλευση των στρατευμάτων της στον Ελληνικό χώρο, από τις 6 π.μ. της 28/10/1940. Ο Μεταξάς άρχισε να το διαβάζει. Μέσα από τα γυαλιά του, έβλεπα τα μάτια του να βουρκώνουν. Όταν τελείωσε την ανάγνωση με κοίταξε κατά πρόσωπο, και με φωνή λυπημένη αλλά σταθερή μου είπε:

-Μεταξάς: Alors c” est la guerre (Λοιπόν έχουμε πόλεμο).

-Γκράτσι: Όχι απαραίτητα Εξοχότατε. Η ιταλική κυβέρνηση ελπίζει ότι θα δεχθείτε την αξίωσίν της και θ” αφήσετε τα ιταλικά στρατεύματα να διέλθουν δια να καταλάβουν τα στρατηγικά σημεία της χώρας.

-Μεταξάς: Και ποια είναι τα στρατηγικά αυτά σημεία, περί των οποίων ομιλεί η διακοίνωσις;

-Γκράτσι: Δεν είμαι εις θέσιν να σας είπω, Εξοχότατε. Η Κυβέρνησίς μου δεν με ενημέρωσε… Γνωρίζω μόνον ότι το τελεσίγραφο εκπνέει εις τας 6 το πρωί.

-Μεταξάς: Εν τοιαύτη περιπτώσει η διακοίνωσις αυτή αποτελεί κήρυξιν πολέμου της Ιταλίας εναντίον της Ελλάδος.

-Γκράτσι: Όχι, Εξοχότατε. Είναι τελεσίγραφον.

-Μεταξάς: Ισοδύναμον προς κήρυξιν πολέμου.

-Γκράτσι: Ασφαλώς όχι, διότι πιστεύω ότι θα παράσχετε τας διευκολύνσεις, τας οποίας ζητεί η κυβέρνησίς μου.

-Μεταξάς: ΟΧΙ! Ούτε λόγος δύναται να γίνη περί ελευθέρας διελεύσεως. Ακόμη όμως και αν υπετίθετο ότι θα έδιδα μια τοιαύτην διαταγήν (την οποίαν δεν είμαι διατεθειμένος να δώσω), είναι τώρα τρεις το πρωί. Πρέπει να ετοιμασθώ,να κατέβω εις τας Αθήνας, να ξυπνήσω τον Βασιλέα, να καλέσω τον Υπουργόν των Στρατιωτικών και τον αρχηγόν του Γενικού Επιτελείου, να θέσω εις κίνησιν όλες τος στρατιωτικές τηλεγραφικές υπηρεσίες, έτσι που μια τέτοια απόφασις να γίνει γνωστή στα πλέον προκεχωρημένα τμήματα των συνόρων. Όλα αυτά είναι πρακτικώς αδύνατα. Η Ιταλία, η οποία δε μας παρέχει καν τη δυνατότητα να εκλέξωμε μεταξύ πολέμου και ειρήνης, κηρύσσει ουσιαστικώς τον πόλεμον εναντίον της Ελλάδος.

(μετά από μια σύντομη παύση)

-Μεταξάς: Πολύ καλά λοιπόν, έχομεν πόλεμον».

Το σίγουρο είναι ότι στις 216 ημέρες που κράτησε ο πόλεμος στην Ελλάδα, και μέχρι τη στιγμή που έφυγε και ο τελευταίος Γερμανός, ο λαός, είτε ως στρατιώτης, είτε αντάρτης, είτε με την προσωπική προσπάθεια και αντίσταση στον κατακτητή έδειξε ότι το φρόνημά του ήταν υψηλό και αντάξιο του ΟΧΙ που είπε ο ηγέτης και δικτάτοράς.

Pete & Rena

Nikki and I visited Pete and Rena after work. Rena made us both huge cups of Greek coffee.

When Rena greeted us she started crying. I feel so bad for them. Their youngest daughter's Toula's husband, Chris, has Stage 4 colon cancer. It has spread to his liver and lung. In order for Chris to be eligible for a clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania, he will need to have a biopsy of his colon, lung and liver. Then he can join the clinical trial for the experimental cocktail (chemo).

I thanked Rena for the galaktobouriko (Greek pastry) she sent when Dina, my cousin Steve and Linda came over and visited me the day after I got out of the hospital.

All we can do is support them and offer any help they may need during this difficult time.

Chris is young and I am hopeful he will tolerate the chemo well.

Keep up the fight Chris!

Free Mammograms

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has a list of medical centers that provide free mammograms for people who do not have health insurance. Below are a few locations in Pennsylvania:

Fox Chase Cancer Center
1.888.369.2427 
333 Cottman Avenue 
Philadelphia, PA 19111 

Magee-Womens Foundation
866.696.2433 
300 Halket Street 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
215.955.5400
Call to find the location nearest you 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

~~~~~~~~

For breast cancer screenings / information at the following locations, call 215.564.3700, or the toll-free number 1.877.99.CREED.

Aria Health System
Frankford Campus
4900 Frankford Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19124
(Fall 2014)

Aria Health System
Bucks Campus
389 N. Oxford Valley Rd.
Langhorne, PA 19047
(Fall 2014)

Jennersville Hospital
1015 W. Baltimore Pike
West Grove, PA 19390
(Fall 2014)

Lower Bucks Hospital
501 Bath Road
Bristol, PA 19007
(Fall 2014)

Paoli Hospital
255 W. Lancaster Ave.
Paoli, PA 19301
(Fall 2014)

Pocono Medical Center
206 East Brown St.
East Stroudsburg, PA 198301
(Ongoing, Please call office 1.877.99CREED)

Riddle Memorial Hospital
1068 W. Baltimore Pike
Media, PA 19063
(Fall 2014)

Aria Health System
The Professional Court
Bustleton Ave. & Verree Road
Philadelphia, PA 19116 
(Fall 2014)

Work

After my PT appointment, I went back to work after 4 weeks. I felt good to be back and things went well. I had a few coworkers ask me how I was feeling. So far so good ...

I left a little after 4:00. I was very tired.

Tomorrow I want to focus on getting done August's inventory.

I also called Karen (Dr. Frazier's appointment coordinator). Within a few minutes I got a call from Jill who works for Dr. Gupta. We set up an appointment for November 10th at noon for me to see Dr. Gupta. He will monitor me and set up any tests that I will need to get done. He's on the 4th floor. My sister is in the Business Department on the 3rd floor. I'll hook up with Maria for lunch.

Lucky to be Alive

None of us is perfect; even the most perfect looking people are constantly knocking one or another of their parts out of whack. You see these young kids, invincible, foolhardy, going hang-gliding, surfing, and rollerblading. Rock-climbing, high diving, bungee jumping. I used to be young once too. Sure, they start out in great shape, but when you’re always pushing the envelope, you keep getting wear and tear. They have their aches and pains too, but they don’t go running to the doctor every time they have a hangnail or a dislocated knee. They just have a shot of tequila, strap on a knee brace, and keep shushing and jumping and para-sailing until there’s nothing left of them but a few pieces of dangling cartilage and an active Twitter account.

But when we get older, we know so many horror stories of perfectly healthy people who suddenly bit the dust after getting stung by a mosquito while they were on safari in Africa, or came up with a rare condition that required them to live on a diet of quinoa and acai berries, that we begin to freak out every time we get a stomach ache from eating too much Mexican food. Hypochondria improves with age. But do you really want to wind up as a 95-year-old geezer who’s afraid to eat a fresh peach because he once knew a guy who choked on a pit? You can’t be afraid of life or you ain’t living. So I start out each day going over my body to make sure all of my parts are in working order.

I sit up in bed and think, 'wow, this is pretty amazing. Another day!' I count my fingers and toes and am happy to see that they all appear to be there. Then it’s time to stand up. This can be a huge accomplishment on some mornings, so I’m really proud when I get to the top of my stature and look down and see how far I have managed to lift my head off the ground with my legs. A little wobbly at first, sure, but if I don’t fall over back into the bed, I know it’s going to be another great day.

I start counting my blessings. The sun is still shining, the powers-that-be have managed to get through another night without blowing everything up in their never ending quest for more, more, more. I go to the bathroom and find I still have hot and cold running water in the shower. Guess we must have paid the utility bills on time again. I crack the window so the steamy air escapes out of the bathroom so I can see myself in the mirror. Still there! Damn, this is a good day. The woman in the mirror is smiling. She still has all her teeth! Only a few white hairs on my head.

In the closet, there are dozens of shirts and pants to choose from, many of which still have all their buttons and working zippers and still fit around the waist, even when I sit down. These are not stiff, new, itchy clothes, either; these are time-worn, tried-and-true outfits, softened by years of wash and wear. I no longer feel as though I have to dress up to please anyone else, just to make sure my own butt feels comfortable. What a luxury this is! I slip on a pair of old sandals so my toes can breathe.

I do a thorough accounting of my body. My skin is still doing a terrific job of containing all my blood and guts, my nails are still nice and sharp and able to pick my nose, or zits, or anything else they might like to scratch. My nose has no trouble detecting the odor of my mom's cooking. My tongue can easily detect that the coffee was too hot to drink after the very first sip. My sinuses still appear to be capable of producing huge amounts of phlegm, useful for expelling any foreign substances that may decide to try to invade my respiratory system. I can feel the pains in many parts of my body - my ankles, knees, hips, neck and other joints - which lets me know that my nervous system is still functioning at a very high level. All the pains seem to meld into one fine burn which, along with the coffee, is doing a wonderful job of making me wide awake and ready for a new day. Yes, I feel great! I feel absolutely alive!

Botox Bimbos

On a day when the Canadian parliament was attacked by a terrorist, a serial killer confessed to killing at least seven women in Indiana, and it was announced that an Ebola serum might be available in two weeks, everyone had one question on their minds: "What happened to Renee Zellweger's face?"

She changed it. Period.

Toys

WTF is it with people trying to keep up with the Joneses? I just don't get it.

Will buying a bigger house really make you happier? The latest luxury car? (I never could understand what was meant by 'luxury' - aren't all cars meant to be comfortable?)

I ran into a pompous Greek-American poodle at the Wawa. Every time I hear her yapping away on her cell phone it's always about money this, money that. I have yet to run into her when she wasn't talking on her cell phone. I mean I can multi-task, but stirring your coffee while talking really loud on your cell phone in a public place is utterly rude. No one wants to hear about the new car you are buying. Who gives a fuck!

One of my favorite quotes ... 'He who dies with the most toys is still dead.'

I have come close to death. Anyone who has come close to death can tell you that at the end of your life, you won't be thinking about your 401-K, your assets, etc. What you will be thinking about is the things you never did.

We will all die, but we must live now. Every moment is precious.

Forget about your toys and live for Pete's sake.

A little anxious

Although I can communicate the agony of going through cancer, I can still laugh. I've learned to live with a dark cloud over my head but the way I do it is to live in the moment and to make myself stay in the moment when I begin to wonder if and when the other shoe will drop.

Everyone thinks that breast cancer is in my past, and I should be thankful that I've beaten it. I smile and say 'so far so good' ... I want to tell them the facts, but let it go.

I went for a walk. After two days of rain, it was nice to be outside in the sun.

I'm feeling a little anxious about going back to work. Not about the work itself, but how my coworkers will approach me. People tend to ask, 'how are you feeling?' and then they wait to see how you will respond. It is hard trying to explain to others how hard the journey is. I do not want people to feel sorry for me when I probably could use more kindness and compassion. I have continued to have significant fluid build up under my arm but I'm dealing with it. The scars that I have from my mastectomy are horrendous but with the help of my therapist, Julie, we will stretch and break down my scar tissue. For now we can only work on the outside scars, the center is still healing. Every once in a while I get stabbing pains in that area.

I am a very positive person, but it does cross my mind some days that I may have a recurrence.

Today in one of the chat rooms on Breastcancer.org I found out that a survivor who had a recurrence of her breast cancer passed away. Lizzy was missing from one of the boards the past two weeks. Today her husband logged in with her name with the news. I recall many of her comments and she sounded positive. Had she just accepted that her journey was coming to an end? She even replied to a 'newbie' with an encouraging message.

Very sad.

How do you explain cancer to people when they ask?

Breast cancer cells start out as normal body cells that begin to grow out of control because of mutation or other damage. Occasionally, cells change from normal to abnormal without any changes to their surface markers. These changing cells grow and multiply into abnormal cells. Eventually, the resulting tumor becomes abnormal on the outside and can no longer hide its malignancy character. The immune system launches its attack - the attack may succeed or it may be too late.

It's easier just to tell people my cells went out of whack.

I'm watching the Royals and the Giants. The Royals are up 2 - 0 and it's the top of the 6th. The 3rd baseman from Kansas City is Greek, Mike Moustakas. I would like to see the Royals win it all.

Arimidix & Side Effects - Joint Pain

When I became a member of Breastcancer.org, after I put in my type of breast cancer and targeted therapy (Arimidix), I came across the following article under my 'recommended articles' ... I am not looking forward to starting Arimidix next month.

~~~~

TOPIC: Hormonal Therapies and Side Effects
TAGS: Aromatase Inhibitors, Arimidex, Aromasin, Femara, After surgery (also called "adjuvant"), and Joint pain

Published on January 31, 2014

Much research has shown that exercise, a healthy diet, and counseling can help women feel better, both during and after breast cancer treatment.

A new study has found that exercise eases joint pain that can be a side effect of the aromatase inhibitors, a type of hormonal therapy medicine.

The study, “Randomized trial of exercise vs. usual care on aromatase inhibitor-associated arthralgias in women with breast cancer: The hormones and physical exercise (HOPE) study,” was presented on Dec. 12, 2013 at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

After surgery, women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer usually take hormonal therapy medicine to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence). Hormonal therapy medicines work in two ways:

• by lowering the amount of estrogen in the body

• by blocking the action of estrogen on breast cancer cells

There are several types of hormonal therapy medicines. Tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), is one of the most well-known. Tamoxifen can be used to treat both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. In 2005, the aromatase inhibitors:

Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole)
Aromasin (chemical name: exemestane)
Femara (chemical name: letrozole)
were shown to be "more effective at reducing recurrence risk in postmenopausal women and are now used more often than tamoxifen to treat women who’ve gone through menopause." Aromatase inhibitors aren’t used to reduce recurrence risk in premenopausal women.

Hormonal therapy usually is prescribed for 5 to 10 years after surgery ...

Joint pain, stiffness, osteoporosis, and broken bones are common side effects of the aromatase inhibitors (doctors call these pains “arthralgias”). Up to 50% of women taking an aromatase inhibitor have joint pain or stiffness.

If doctors can find a way to ease the joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors, it’s likely that more women would stick to their treatment plans and take the medicines for a full 5-10 years.

In the HOPE study, the researchers wanted to see if exercise could help ease joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors. The study included 121 postmenopausal women diagnosed with stage I-III hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer who had been taking an aromatase inhibitor for at least 6 months. All the women said they had at least mild joint pain and weren’t exercising when the study started, though they were physically able to exercise ...

'Aromatase inhibitors play an important role in the effective treatment of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer,' said Melinda Irwin, Ph.D., M.P.H., who is associate professor of chronic disease epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and one of the study’s leaders. 'Unfortunately, many patients discontinue the drug because of its unpleasant side effects. In this study, we discovered that exercise improves joint pain, the most common side effect of aromatase inhibitor use. These results are a promising first step in developing clinical interventions that can improve aromatase inhibitor-associated joint pain and, in turn, aromatase inhibitor adherence, breast cancer survival, and quality of life.'

While the side effects of hormonal therapy can be troubling, they’re overshadowed by the reality that hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer can come back. Hormonal therapy after surgery reduces that risk. If you’ve been prescribed hormonal therapy after surgery, you must remember this.

There are steps you can take to get rid of any obstacles stopping you from doing all you can to lower your recurrence risk. If side effects are a major problem for you, talk to your doctor about ways to manage them. You also may be able to switch to a different hormonal therapy.

If you’re currently taking an aromatase inhibitor, try to make exercise part of your daily routine. Think of exercise as another important part of your overall treatment plan that helps you recover and stay healthy. If you’ve never exercised before, the first thing to do is to talk to your doctor and possibly a certified fitness trainer about a safe and sensible plan designed specifically for you and your needs and physical abilities ...

You may want to start gradually, maybe walking for 15 minutes a day, and then slowly increasing the amount of time you spend exercising as well as the intensity level of each session. You may need months to work your way up to 150 minutes a week, but that's OK.

If you're not sure how to start exercising, you might want to visit a gym or make an appointment with a certified personal trainer to learn about different types of exercise. Some people prefer exercising in their homes using videotapes or DVDs. Others find great joy in gardening or building things, as opposed to organized exercise. Some people love being part of a team and playing soccer or baseball. Walking or jogging with a friend is a great way to socialize AND get the benefits of exercise. Dancing to great music is great exercise. With so many different ways to move, you're bound to find a way to exercise that suits your personality and schedule. If you can find one or a mix of exercises that you think are fun and not boring, you'll be much more likely to stick with it.

Busting a gut!

I'm a huge fan of the New Yorker Magazine. Some of the writers literally have me laughing out loud. Kat Stoeffel and David Sederis are two of my favorites. They have a wicked sense of humor. (I have every book David Sedaris has written. His father was Greek and his mother was Irish. Need I say more.)

Below is an article entitled 'Do Any of These Hippie Deodorants Work?' by Kat Stoeffel. One of the deodorants I used to use all the time was Secret so I can totally relate to Kat!



Do Any of These Hippie Deodorants Work?

By Kat Stoeffel (New Yorker Magazine)

"I am not known for my noncarcinogenic lifestyle. I prefer aspartame to agave, reheat takeout pad Thai in its original plastic container, and think most wines pair best with a cigarette. So my newfound opposition to aluminum-based antiperspirant has nothing to do with conflicting reports that it causes breast cancer or Alzheimer’s disease.

My beef lies in a bottom-drawer graveyard of crisp, white blouses, quickly abandoned for their yellowing armpit seams. For a long time I believed — shamefully — that the yellow stains were a by-product of my inherently foul sweat, but I learned recently it is in fact a chemical reaction between aluminum-based antiperspirants and laundry detergent. (Although, for the record, my sweat is inherently foul. Even at the end of a weeklong chemical-substance-beauty-product detox I did once while traveling alone.)

Last year, I switched to the Tom’s of Maine deodorant on sale at the gentrifier’s bodega in my neighborhood. But then I found myself buying up emergency sticks of Secret in drug stores all over town. Cheating got expensive. So for the past month, I tested some non-aluminum deodorants to see if the hippie-dippy stuff could stand up to my stench, or whether I'd have to go back to black.

Recommend:



Okay, let’s get this out of the way: Cream deodorant is a pain. You can’t get it under your arm with that same hand, so you end up digging both hands into tiny pots of gunk (good luck closing it afterward), getting pungent essential oils under your nails and assuming a very unsexy, Mary Katherine Gallagher pose. But the consistency of Soapwalla’s cream  — a waxy balm with a fine grit — is pretty much ideal for this kind of work, and a little went a long way. It smells like peppermint and it worked past midnight, on a day when I hadn’t even showered. Soapwalla Deodorant Cream, $14

Highly Recommend:



Another reason I'm ambivalent about aluminum deodorant is my belief that for most of human history, everyone smelled bad all the time, and our anxiety about it was only invented very recently, by advertisers. This French cologne dating to 1862 (the active ingredient is alum stone) undermines that theory. The clear roll-on worked all day, including through a panicky half-hour search for a subway stop in an unfamiliar corner of Brooklyn in 90-degree heat. The blood-orange and rosemary oils made me smell like the expensive hand soap you get at Williams-Sonoma. Le Couvent de Minimes Everyday Deodorant, $13.50

All Around Winner:



It smells like Teen Spirit — literally, the old purple floral one — and doesn’t leave the white spot that would have stained the black dress I was wearing, just like a girl in a deodorant commercial. It didn’t last for the full 72 hours advertised, but by the time it started to wear off — after almost 48 hours, an outdoor dance party, a long run, and a shower — I was too busy trying to figure out if I could buy shares in its Israeli manufacturer to care. Lavilin Roll-on Deodorant, $16"

Mind Fog

Mind fog, brain freeze, whatever it's called, I just can't think as clearly as I used to, can't find the right words ...

The changes in my ability to think and remember things are obvious to me and sometimes to others. I'll be talking to someone and all of a sudden I can't get a word out - it's somewhere in my brain - and I have had my mom or a friend 'fill in the word' for me.

This mind fog was much worse when I first had my surgery - it has gotten better.

The first time this happened to me was the day I met Sarah for my MRI (and this was before my surgery). I had registered, filled out the forms, etc. After Sarah introduced herself to me, she asked me how I was feeling. My insurance card had gotten misplaced at Dr. Frazier's office so I was concerned about having my driver's license safely back in my wallet. As we walked over to where we wound up sitting down Sarah noticed me checking my wallet. She asked me if everything was okay. I told her what happened with my insurance card and wanted to make sure my license was in my wallet. Only I couldn't get the word license out. The girl who took care of my registration looked at Sarah and mouthed the word 'license' to her. I apologized and told Sarah, "I don't know what just happened, a brain freeze ..."

Sarah explained to me it's normal - the shock of being diagnosed with cancer puts an emotional strain on you.

It was really bad right after my surgery. The anesthesia and the pain meds really did a number on my thought process. It's called cognitive dysfunction. Another term to add to my cancer glossary ...

After my physical therapy today I couldn't remember where I parked my car. I spent an intense hour with Julie, my muscles around my chest and shoulder ached, and the last thing I expected was to walk out to the parking lot and not be able to recall where I parked my car. It's not like the parking lot is like that of the King of Prussia Mall where you have to write down where you parked. And it was only my second appointment - I haven't had time to try out different parking lanes.

My saving grace is my ability to laugh. I have to laugh at myself and my trials and tribulations, or I will wind up going bonkers.

Safe & Cheap Deodorants

I have always been a fan of Kiss My Face shampoos. I have fine thin hair so the 'Big Body' shampoo is great. You can find Kiss My Face in Whole Foods, Giant (in the organic section), Trader Joe's, etc. I recently purchased their Patchouli deodorant and used it once under my left arm (yesterday). It smells nice, not too strong, and it actually works. It's aluminum and paraben free.

A lot of 'safe' deodorants can be expensive. I looked up some deodorants on the Skin Deep app and the following are safe and not expensive:

Tom's of Maine Original Unscented Deodorant ($5.99)

Aluminum free, paraben free.

~~~~

Arm & Hammer Essentials Natural Deodorant ($3.99)

Aluminum free, paraben free.

~~~~

Kiss My Face Deodorant Active Life Peaceful Patchouli Aluminum Free ($5.99)

No aluminum, parabens, artificial fragrance, animal ingredients, animal testing, gluten.

~~~~

Kiss My Face Liquid Rock Cucumber Green Tea Roll On Deodorant ($5.99)

Paraben-Free, Does Not Contain Propylene Glycol, Contains No Aluminum Chlorohydrate, Alcohol-Free.

When I come across more safe deodorants, I will add them to this post.

We can't avoid all harmful ingredients but we can at least limit our exposure. If anyone has a safe deodorant they would like me to add, please let me know.

EU Banned Cosmetic Ingredients

The European Union strictly regulates the extremely hazardous chemicals found in everyday products here in the United States.

To date, the EU has banned 1,100 chemicals in cosmetics; the Food and Drug Administration in America has banned only ten. In fact, Cover Girl waterproof mascara contains the same ingredient (petroleum distillates, an oil by-product) as Dr. Scholl’s Wart Remover - both of which are illegal in Europe. Shocking, right?

Many of the chemicals banned in the EU - but found in FDA-approved beauty products - cause cancer, birth defects, genetic mutation, and organ damage.

Why is our regulation system so different from that of our European neighbors?

Unfortunately, U.S. law can’t prevent other countries from importing prohibited cosmetics. Mercury, used mostly in skin bleaching or whitening products, used to be a preservative in shampoos, bubble bath, hair color, deodorants, etc. As it’s absorbed through the skin, mercury causes brain, kidney, and lung damage. But cosmetics containing mercury are often smuggled into the U.S. from China or India. After a case of mercury poisoning from an illegally imported skin-whitening cream occurred, the FDA warned against using such products but was unable to take any further legal action.

When it comes to cosmetics, the FDA is powerless. Unlike with food and drug additives, the FDA has no authority to test chemicals in cosmetics, to require safety testing before products reach the consumer market, or to recall products. Cosmetic manufacturers are wholly responsible for the safety of their own products and for making sure they adhere to the FDA’s guidelines. Companies also aren’t required to register their cosmetic establishments, file data on ingredients, or report cosmetic-related injuries to the FDA.

Compare U.S. legislation with European law. The U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines cosmetics as products for “cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance.” The intentionally vague language gives manufacturers a lot of freedom to produce questionable merchandise without the risk of government interference.

By contrast, the European Union Cosmetics Directive (EUCD) defines a cosmetic as “any substance or preparation intended to be placed in contact with the various external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, and/or correcting body odours and/or protecting them or keeping them in good condition.”

In case that wasn’t clear enough, the EUCD mandates that products “must not cause damage to human health when applied under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.”

While the EU has more protective and stringent laws toward cosmetics than the U.S. does, it also has the advantage of having each member state regulate products within its own national borders. Where we have one regulatory body, Europe has twenty-seven independent (but cooperative) organizations.

So who tests for unsafe additives in beauty products in the U.S.? The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), a self-policing safety panel, is the FDA’s main source of scientific data. According to its Web site, the CIR “thoroughly reviews and assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics in an open, unbiased, and expert manner, and publishes the results in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.”

But despite its claims of “fair and balanced” results, the CIR is funded by the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), an industry group of more than six hundred cosmetic companies. In fact, the PCPC reportedly spent over $600,000 on lobbyists in Sacramento to prevent the California Safe Cosmetics Act, a law that would have required manufacturers to post any unsafe ingredients on product labels, from passing.

Reports from environmental and public-health groups, like the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, have often directly contradicted the “safe” findings of the CIR. The Environmental Working Group found that:

One in 30 products sold in the U.S. fails to meet industry or government safety standards.

Nearly 400 products sold in the U.S., such as Crest Whitestrips and Neutrogena daily face cream, contain chemicals banned in Japan, Canada, and the EU.

98% of all products assessed contained one or more ingredients never tested for safety.

However, even with the CIR’s reports readily available, many cosmetic companies continue to create products that defy safety guidelines. Since the CIR has the authority only to “advise,” not to regulate, these products are still sold in stores all across America. U.S. companies often create safer products for their European market and sell the more dangerous versions in American stores.

Many companies acknowledge the danger of the chemicals in their products but insist that using the product as directed minimizes health risks. But before you lather, rinse, and repeat, remember that trace chemical amounts accumulate over time in the human body, and the CIR’s tests don’t account for lifelong use. Your daily body wash might contain a small, permissible amount of phthalates, but over the course of several years, the amount of phthalates in your body can reach extremely unhealthy levels.

These days, if you’re not eating free-range, organic, all-natural food, expect to drop dead any minute - at least, that’s what your vegan-fanatic neighbor would have you believe. But Americans are so concerned with what they put in their mouths, they forget to watch what they put on their skin.

Get involved. Tell your congressional representative your concerns about effecting stricter legislation, and try to buy products whose ingredients you can recognize easily. CosmeticsDatabase.com is a wonderful resource for toxicity levels of brand-name products.

It’s inevitable that our bodies will encounter a fair share of toxic chemicals over a lifetime but if we can make small changes to our daily routine, our bodies will thank us in the long run.

Truth!

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” ~ Einstein

Home Made Deodorant

Somebody sent me ingredients to make my own deodorant. Thank you Sabrina! I'll have to try this ...

This can be poured into an old deodorant container and applied conveniently.

Coconut Oil: naturally antibacterial and a great moisturizer

Baking Soda: deodorizes

Arrowroot Powder: adds extra dryness

Cocoa Butter: moisturizer for shaving and stabilizer (solid at room temperature)

Bees Wax: stabilizer (makes the deodorant more solid)

Essential Oil: antibacterial, antimicrobial, and smells good

Fatigue

I went to CVS and finally got my flu shot today. After filling out the forms, I waited for about a half hour until Colleen called my name (the pharmacy technician who administers the shots). I noticed a Pittsburgh Steelers pin on her collar. I told her I am a Cowboys fan. We talked football while she asked me what arm. I told her my left because my right arm is an 'at-risk extremity'. She caught on right away and asked me how I was feeling. I told her I was doing good.

After you get the flu shot they tell you to sit at least 5 or 10 minutes before leaving the store in case you have an adverse reaction to the vaccine. I picked up the Philadelphia Magazine and paged through it to give me something to do while I hung around.

This CVS is always busy. All CVS's are busy but this one and the one in Havertown are non-stop.

Colleen gave a little old lady a few seats away from me the shingles vaccine.

Next was an incredibly rude bimbo who kept huffing and puffing the whole time she waited. She kept getting up and asking, "do I have to wait much longer?"... and ... "I have to be somewhere in half an hour." It took a lot of patience for me not to say anything every time she would bounce up and start pacing.

We all have to be somewhere.

When Colleen rolled up her sleeve, the bimbo asked, "will it hurt?"

Can you imagine?!

Will it hurt. Try having your breast removed to see what your up against and if that hurts. Severe pain so disabling and so powerful that it imprisons you in your bed, hopeless and depressed. Pain so intense that you hallucinate.

I couldn't help myself. I looked at Colleen's eyes and started laughing. I mean I busted a gut! Then Colleen started laughing, then the little old lady with the shingles shot, and before I could catch my breath some of the people waiting in line started to laugh with us.

The only person who didn't laugh was the bimbo. She didn't even wait to make sure she didn't have an adverse reaction.

She had to be somewhere!

Today must have been an I'm-in-a-hurry day for a lot of people. As I was driving out of the shopping center some asshole almost hit me. He came barreling around the CVS toward the Citizens Bank drive-thru lane. I slowed down. This idiot slammed on his brakes (it was raining all day) and almost hit me on my driver side. I just looked at this guy and started laughing. He looked at me as if I was crazy.

I have a pillow between the seat belt and my chest. Not just because the belt hurts but to protect myself from aggressive drivers like this moron.

Next I went to pick up a pizza for my parents from Italian Delight. While I waited, I checked my messages. I called my cousin George back in Florida. We spent 15 minutes reminiscing about our grandmother and grandfather and laughing. My grandfather would always cheat when I would play cards with him! To get under my grandmother's skin he would say to her, "Mariooooo, your children don't love you." I really miss my grandparents, but I have photographs and memories to keep them with me at all times.

When I finally got home, fatigue set in.

Fatigue is one of the side effects I have had to deal with starting a couple of months before I even knew I had cancer and now while my body is healing from the surgery. Fatigue is very different from the way you get tired from performing your job. When you're tired, you get some sleep, and the next day you feel better.

Fatigue feels like a total lack of energy, a weakness in your whole body. You don't feel normal, you don't feel good.

Your body is working overtime to handle the effects of surgery and treatment, and run basic body functions such as walking and eating. Your body needs to conserve its precious energy for this work and shut down other activities that aren't absolutely necessary. The result is fatigue ...

The body takes time to heal. I have to keep reminding myself that this too shall pass.

Aluminum, Paraben & Your Health

I learned that the deodorant that I used on a daily basis contained ingredients that I now consider to be harmful. I found a better alternative, which I especially appreciate after the numerous articles I have read.

The goal of this post is to provide an overview of the health risks that come with the regular use of most deodorants and all antiperspirants.

I will especially focus on the aluminum in antiperspirants and the connection between deodorants, parabens and breast cancer.

Since my right breast mastectomy back on September 23rd, I have not used deodorant. The safe deodorant that I bought is in the bathroom but to be perfectly honest, I don't know if I will ever use it.

If you have to choose between the lesser of two evils, pick a deodorant over an antiperspirant.

Sweating and Body Odor

Sweating is your body’s mechanism to cool down. The average person has about 2.6 million sweat glands, and sweat glands come in two types: eccrine and apocrine.

Eccrine – The majority of sweat glands on your body are eccrine, these are the glands you have on your forehead, on your hands and on your feet. The eccrine glands are active from birth, and produce sweat free of proteins and fatty acids.

Apocrine – These glands are in your arm pits and in your genital area. The apocrine glands usually end in hair follicles and become active during puberty. The sweat produced by the apocrine glands contains proteins and fatty acids.

Sweat has no odor, the familiar unpleasant odor is caused by bacteria that live on our skin and hair. These bacteria metabolize the proteins and fatty acids from our apocrine sweat, causing body odor.

Deodorants deal with the smell by neutralizing it and by killing the bacteria that metabolize the proteins and fatty acids.

Antiperspirants on the other hand, try to prevent sweating by blocking the pores using aluminum. Without sweat, the bacteria cannot metabolize proteins and fatty acids that cause body odor.

The Semantics of Deodorants and Antiperspirants

Many antiperspirants also have a deodorant component. It might be for this reason that ‘deodorant’ and ‘antiperspirant’ are used interchangeably.

There are deodorants available that do not have the harmful ingredients, but only have safe natural ingredients. These deodorants may cost a little more but are safe.

Antiperspirants – The Over-The-Counter Drug

It might be a surprise to learn that the antiperspirant you use daily is in fact an over-the-counter (OTC) drug. As mentioned, antiperspirants work by clogging, closing, or blocking the pores with aluminum salts in order to prevent the release of sweat, effectively changing the function of the body. Antiperspirants are considered to be drugs because they affect the physiology of the body.

Because antiperspirants are drugs, they are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Consequently, every antiperspirant sold in the US has a Drug Identification Number (DIN), which you can find on the label. A document called ‘monograph’ states requirements for categories of nonprescription drugs such as antiperspirants. It defines for example what ingredients may be used and for what intended use. If the standards of the OTC monograph are met, premarket approval of a potentially new OTC product is not necessary.

The active ingredient for antiperspirants: aluminum. Most antiperspirants also contain paraben, an ingredient that is also used in deodorants.

Deodorants

As mentioned, deodorants deal with body odor by neutralizing the smell and by killing the bacteria that metabolize the proteins and fatty acids that occur in sweat.

In the last decade one particular ingredient in deodorants has become controversial: paraben, a widely used preservative.

Note: parabens were banned in the European Union and Japan 10 years ago. Why parabens have not been banned in the US is beyond my comprehension.

Deodorants and Antiperspirants are Considered to be Safe

Both antiperspirants and deodorants are considered to be safe by the FDA, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the Mayo Clinic.

However, FDA regulation does not mean that a drug is without danger. Like prescription drugs, the FDA oversees OTC drugs to ensure that they are properly labeled and that their benefits outweigh their risks.

There are many products or ingredients of products that have become controversial in regards to health effects. However, this does not mean that products will be taken off the market until deemed safe. Often, the FDA does not consider the evidence of danger to consumer’s health strong enough to take action.

If you want to research some of the bad decisions the FDA has made in the past, then Google some examples of product that only got pulled off the shelves when it became too obvious that people were dying due to heart attacks caused by these medications: ‘Vioxx’, ‘Celebrex’ and ‘Bextra’. The conclusion of this debacle according to leading cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol:

"Neither of the two major forces in this 5-and-a-half-year affair — neither Merck nor the FDA — fulfilled its responsibilities to the public."

We have to educate ourselves rather than having to rely on often well-meaning but sometimes misdirected organizations.

Aluminum

Aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, and aluminum-zirconium compounds, most notably aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly and aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex gly, are the most widely used in antiperspirants. Most of these materials are supplied as powders, and they are typically used at levels of 8-25% based on the weight of the finished product.

As stated by the FDA: Antiperspirants have an aluminum-based compound as their main, “active” ingredient, which can be any number of compounds within an established concentration and dosage form.

Aluminum, also known as aluminium, has the symbol Al and its atomic number is 13. It is the most abundant metallic element in the Earth’s crust (believed to be 7.5 to 8.1 percent). Aluminum has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years.

We are continually exposed to aluminum due to its many uses. It is often used in cooking utensils, containers, appliances, and building materials. It is also used in paints and fireworks; to produce glass, rubber, and ceramics; and in consumer products such as antacids, astringents, buffered aspirin, food additives, and antiperspirants. Another use for aluminum is in water purification, and it can therefore occur in your drinking water.

Studies on mice have found that the absorption of aluminum through the skin causes a greater burden on the body than oral ingestion. Humans also absorb aluminum through the skin: a 2001 study showed that aluminum was still present in blood samples 15 days after one application of aluminum to the armpit. Consequently, applying aluminum to the skin is a very effective way to get aluminum in your system, and in your brain ...

Aluminum was first recognized as a human neurotoxin in 1886, before being used as an antiperspirant. A neurotoxin is a substance that causes damage to nerves or nerve tissue.

Aluminum as a Neurotoxin: linked to Alzheimer and other neurological diseases

Post-mortem analysis of Alzheimer’s infected brains has shown increased levels of aluminum compared to people that did not die from Alzheimer’s.

C Exley, PhD., has focused his research on the ways in which aluminum impacts life on earth, he states in ‘Aluminum in Antiperspirants: More Than Just Skin Deep’:

"... We now know that transdermal uptake of aluminum is not only possible but may also be important. We should not be as quick to discard this possibility as we probably were to discount the absorption of aluminum across the skin and, indeed, as many have been to reject a role for aluminum in chronic diseases such as Alzheimer disease."

When using antiperspirants, one only applies very little aluminum to the skin. However, daily use results in chronic exposure to aluminum. One study has asserted that the use of aluminum based antiperspirants increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 60%.

In the monograph for antiperspirants, the FDA states:

"... several citizen petitions have raised concerns about the amount of aluminum absorbed from topical antiperspirant drug products. The agency has no data showing that products containing up to 35 percent aluminum chlorhydrates or aluminum zirconium chlorhydrates increase aluminum absorption and is not revising the monograph to provide for powder roll-on dosage forms containing up to 35 percent antiperspirant active ingredient, without additional safety data being provided."

Above, the agency states it “has no data showing” the “increase [of] aluminum absorption”. Notice that the FDA does not state that it has data that shows there is no absorption of the neurotoxin aluminum.

Rather than ordering research that proves safety, the FDA will not act on information it deems to have insufficient support instead it claims that:

"... the majority of researchers investigating the [cause or origin] of Alzheimer’s disease would consider current evidence insufficient to link aluminum to Alzheimer’s disease ... current scientific information does not support the need to reclassify the safety of aluminum-containing antiperspirants."

There is an established link between aluminum intake and Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders, contrary to what the FDA implies. Flaten states in a 2001 Brain Research Bulletin that considerable evidence exists that aluminum may play a role in the cause/origin or in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the question that is still open to debate is whether aluminum is the main cause of Alzheimer’s.

As Exley states in ‘Does antiperspirant use increase the risk of aluminium-related disease, including Alzheimer’s disease?’:

"... as the frequent use of aluminium-based antiperspirants has been linked to a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, manufacturers of these products cannot afford to be complacent."

When looking into subjects that involve health, you will notice that there are often contradictions between the findings of researchers and the information that is distributed by main stream organizations like (in this case) the FDA and the Alzheimer’s Association.

I assumed that all products on the supermarket shelves were vetted and deemed safe. It turns out that this is often not the case, I also found that ‘harmless’ or in FDA terms ‘Generally Recognized As Safe’ (GRAS) is highly subjective.

GRAS means that there are no ingredients that have obvious severe short term side effects. GRAS does not mean that a product is safe for the long term – How would the FDA test the long term impact of any product? The FDA’s main goals are risk management and correct labeling of products. As stated in 1999 report from the FDA’s ‘Task Force on Risk Management’:

"The Agency approves a product when it judges that the benefits of using a product outweigh the risks for the intended population and use. A major goal of the premarketing review is to ensure that products are truthfully and adequately labeled for the population and use. Labeling is given considerable emphasis because it is the chief tool the Agency uses to communicate risk and benefit to the healthcare community and patients."

Once medical products are on the market, however, ensuring safety is principally the responsibility of healthcare providers and patients, who make risk decisions on an individual, rather than a population, basis. They are expected to use the labeling information to select and use products wisely, thereby minimizing adverse events.

When the FDA makes a GRAS claim about for example antiperspirants, it does not mean that the product has proven to be safe. It merely means that according to the FDA, the product is not harmful enough to prevent it from being sold.



Aluminum in Antiperspirants linked to Breast Cancer

Antiperspirants/deodorants are being linked to breast cancer in several studies. There is a link between the aluminum component in antiperspirants and breast cancer. There is a link between parabens in deodorant and breast cancer.

Breast Cancer at an Earlier Age

McGrath states a scientific article titled ‘An earlier age of breast cancer diagnosis related to more frequent use of antiperspirants/deodorants and underarm shaving’:

"The data from this study are consistent with the hypothesis that the degree of antiperspirant/deodorant usage and axillary shaving is associated with an earlier age of breast cancer diagnosis."

The study concludes in part:

"... underarm shaving with antiperspirant/deodorant use may play a role in breast cancer. It is not clear which of these components are involved. Reviewed literature insinuates absorption of aluminium salts facilitated by dermal barrier disruption."

The series of events that eventually cause breast cancer can start many years before the symptoms become noticeable. Studies indicate that the chance of developing breast cancer increases when women are exposed to cancer causing agents at a young age. Consequently, young girls that use antiperspirants/deodorants are more likely to develop breast cancer later in life.

However, this does not mean that the use of antiperspirants/deodorants is not harmful when it is used later in life.

The Role of Antiperspirants in Causing Cancer

In the September 2005 issue of the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Darbre published an article titled “Aluminium, Antiperspirants and Breast Cancer”. Darbre states:

"Aluminium is known to have a genotoxic profile, capable of causing both DNA alterations and epigenetic effects, and this would be consistent with a potential role in breast cancer if such effects occurred in breast cells.

and ...

Results reported [in this study] demonstrate that aluminium in the form of aluminium chloride or aluminium chlorhydrate can interfere with the function of oestrogen receptors of MCF7 human breast cancer cells both in terms of ligand binding and in terms of oestrogen-regulated reporter gene expression."

Darbre concludes that the application of aluminum containing antiperspirants results in aluminum absorption though the skin, and that the frequent application provides a relevant portion of the aluminum that the body has to deal with.

In another article titled ‘Underarm Cosmetics and Breast Cancer’ Darbre explains that two steps are needed to cause cancer:

1 – DNA has to be damaged, resulting in damaged cells.

2 – Growth promotion of these damaged cells.

There are several ways that DNA could be damaged as a result of using antiperspirants. According to one theory, it is caused by accumulating sweat through the use of antiperspirants. Your body normally exposes of waste products through sweat, the accumulation of these toxic waste products in the armpit can cause damage to the adjacent breast cells.

Another mechanism that can help cause DNA damage is through the aluminum and zirconium salts. It has been shown that aluminum can bind to DNA and change it, resulting in damaged breast cells.

The promotion of the growth of the damaged cells can be caused by another ingredient of antiperspirants / deodorants: parabens.

Darbre states that more research is needed to scientifically prove the link between antiperspirants/deodorants and breast cancer. She also states that “The nature of the chemicals in these [antiperspirants] and the lack of any advice about safe quantity or frequency of application should be of concern.”

Breast Cancer Location and Antiperspirants/Deodorant

The majority of breast cancers occur in the part of the breast that is the closest to the armpit, where we apply antiperspirants and deodorants. This location is referred to as the Upper Outer Quadrant (UOQ).

However, the relationship between the breast cancer location and antiperspirants/deodorant is disputed. In 2005, Andrew H.S. Lee published the results of a study in ‘The Breast’. His conclusion is that the “high proportion of upper outer quadrant [cancer] of the breasts is a reflection of the greater amount of breast tissue in this quadrant”. Lee does acknowledge that “[t]here are unresolved questions relating to the toxicological links between underarm cosmetics and breast cancer”, in his conclusion Lee states that his results “cannot disprove the hypothesis that underarm cosmetics cause breast cancer”.

What Lee does not take into account, is that the proportion of breast cancer in the UOQ has been rising steadily with the increased use of antiperspirants and deodorants. In 1926, 31% of breast cancers occurred in the UOQ, in 1947-1967 this percentage increased to 43-48%. Currently the majority of breast cancers occurs in the part of the breast that is the closest to the armpit: 60.7% in 1994.

USA breast cancer incidence and antiperspirant/deodorant sales (Roush et al., 1987; SEER Cancer Incidence Public-Use Database, 2001; US Cosmetic and Toiletries Market, 2001).

The findings of a recent study on the UOQ issue, were published in 2007 in the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. The article titled ‘Aluminium in Human Breast Tissue’, shows the results of a study that measured the aluminum content in breast tissue. A small excerpt from this article:

"We have confirmed the presence of aluminium in breast tissue and its possible regional distribution within the breast. Higher content of aluminium in the outer breast might be explained by this region’s closer proximity to the underarm where the highest density of application of antiperspirant could be assumed. There is evidence that skin is permeable to aluminium when applied as antiperspirant. However, we have no direct evidence that the aluminium measured in these breast biopsies originated from antiperspirant.

and ...

we should not neglect the possibility that aluminium in breast tissue might contribute towards breast cancer."

Several recent and respected studies have shown the relationship between antiperspirants/deodorants and breast cancer, some of which have been presented in this post. Yet all government and (breast) cancer organizations will tell you that antiperspirants are safe, or do they ...

The ‘Official’ Version

Reading about antiperspirants on the FDA website, should make you feel better. The FDA starts reassuring you by giving the ‘Antiperspirant and Cancer’ section the title ‘The Cancer Myth‘. Phew, this article must be wrong after all.

A few quotes from the FDA web page I am referring to:

"The rise of the Internet has made it easy for false health claims, scary stories, and rumors to reach millions of people in a matter of minutes. One such myth says that antiperspirants may cause breast cancer.

and ...

... the [National Cancer Institute] says that no existing scientific or medical evidence links the use of underarm antiperspirants or deodorants to the subsequent development of breast cancer. The FDA, the Mayo Clinic, the American Cancer Society (ACS), and the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association agree. Razor nicks may increase the risk of skin infection, but not cancer."

The FDA does not mention the harmful effects of aluminum, but more importantly, the FDA does not state that it found antiperspirants to be harmless. It instead refers to the opinion of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

So lets take a look at what the NCI has to say. The NCI provides a page titled ‘Antiperspirants/Deodorants and Breast Cancer: Questions and Answers‘. A few quotes:

[Question 1:] Can antiperspirants or deodorants cause breast cancer?

[Last part of the answer:] ... researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) ... are not aware of any conclusive evidence linking the use of underarm antiperspirants or deodorants and the subsequent development of breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ... also does not have any evidence or research data that ingredients in underarm antiperspirants or deodorants cause cancer."

Notice that there is no conclusive answer to the question. Also, the NCI is referring to the FDA as an authority, while the FDA based its answer on a reference to the NCI.

and ...

[Question 2:] What do scientists know about the ingredients in antiperspirants and deodorants?

[Last part of the answer:] ... More research is needed to specifically examine whether the use of deodorants or antiperspirants can cause the buildup of parabens and aluminum-based compounds in breast tissue.

One more ...

[Question 3:] What have scientists learned about the relationship between antiperspirants or deodorants and breast cancer?

[Last part of the answer:] ... Because studies of antiperspirants and deodorants and breast cancer have provided conflicting results, additional research is needed to investigate this relationship and other factors that may be involved.

After reading the statements made on the NCI website, it seems wrong for the FDA to refer to this issue as a ‘The Cancer Myth’. Notice that both the FDA and the NCI web page do not tell you that antiperspirants / deodorants are safe.

Another great example of governmental ‘information’, this time in Europe. The study on an earlier age of breast cancer diagnosis, has also been used by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP), part of the European Commission. The two lines that were devoted to this study are:

"Two recent epidemiological studies on the use of underarm cosmetics in relation to breast cancer exist. The authors of these studies could not establish a relationship between the use of underarm deodorants and antiperspirants and the occurrence of breast cancer."

The quote from the SCCP does not mention the conclusions of the study, instead the SCCP authors determine that the epidemiological study did not establish the mentioned relationship. However, reading the study leaves the reader with a different impression.

This goes to show that one has to be thorough when reading government documents, published studies and – of course – any other information.

Conclusion

As with many health issues, the theories presented are disputed. For many people it is incomprehensible that organizations like the FDA, the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute might be wrong or misleading.

All I will say is that it will be healthier for everybody to reach their own conclusions, rather than blindly adopting the point of view of any organization.

You might not be a doctor, but you probably have more common sense than most.