Inflammation Stokes the Fire

Inflammation Stokes the Fire (for breast cancer survivors)

A fire can spread quickly and devastatingly, or slowly, making it easier for
firefighters to subdue. Inflammation is the fire in the growth and spread of cancer.
In a healthy body, inflammation represents a protective response to an emergency,
such as invasion by a bacterium, virus, or parasite. Inflammation is a time-tested
process that initiates the body’s innate healing process, a lifesaving response to
wounds and infections that might not heal without it. An inflammatory state can
become chronic, however, which is when it causes problems.

The same inflammatory chemicals that are used to heal wounds can promote
cancer growth. One way that this happens is when white blood cells rush to the site
of an injury, initiating the development of new blood vessels in a process known as
angiogenesis. What’s more, inflammation seems to play a variety of roles in all
phases of cancer: its initiation, promotion, and invasion (Sgambato and Cittadini
2010).

Fortunately, we are well aware of several natural anti-inflammatory foods and
nutrients. Quercetin, a bioflavonoid phytonutrient found in apples, onions, and tea;
curcumin; ginger; and omega-3 fatty acids are among the best. Likewise, sunlight,
which allows the body to make vitamin D, is a natural antioxidant and is antiinflammatory.

Identifying and eliminating food sensitivities is another key to alleviating undue
inflammation. By discovering your own particular food sensitivities, you can avoid
foods that are provocative to your system. This is one key to taming the
inflammation beast, but we’ll discuss several others in chapter 8.

The Breast Cancer–Iodine Connection

According to Dr. David Brownstein (2008), author of Iodine: Why You Need It,
Why You Can’t Live without It, iodine is one of the most essential nutrients for breast
health. In fact, decades of work have been painstakingly undertaken to confirm this
protective role. It is believed that iodine does its work through modulation of gene
expression and estrogen containment, while remaining intimately involved in the
process of cell division and replication, and apoptosis, the process of normal cell
death (ibid.).

From epidemiological studies, we learn that iodine deficiency is linked to a
higher rate of goiter and breast cancer, undoubtedly because iodine exerts the lion’s
share of its effect on both thyroid and breast tissue. Conversely, high levels of
iodine intake are associated with reduced goiter and breast cancer rates (ibid.).
Japan, for instance, has the highest dietary intake of iodine (approximately 13
milligrams per day), and the lowest rates of goiter and breast cancer (ibid.).

Interestingly, when Japanese women move to the United States and consume the
same amount of iodine as American women, their breast cancer rates increase. Dr.
Brownstein (personal communication) has tested more than four thousand patients
in his practice, and his results have been remarkably consistent: over 95 percent of
his patients are iodine deficient. How can this be, when our saltshakers are
brimming with iodized salt? Perhaps it’s because Americans also consume three
other chemicals in large amounts that compete with iodine for absorption: fluoride,
chlorine, and bromide. In chapter 5 we’ll talk more about these iodine-disrupting
chemicals and what you can do to make sure that you have enough iodine to confer
the maximum degree of breast cancer protection.