Wednesday 18 June 2014

DOES WEARING TIGHT BRAS CAUSE BREAST CANCER?

Hey ladies!!!

This discussion is strictly for you. However, if you are a guy who has a mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, aunt, female cousin or niece then you are also welcome to join. This promises to be exciting. It is a topic that most people don't get to think about, not to talk about worrying about it. The topic came up in the surgical clinic during my posting in the department. It was brought about by the staggering number of young girls below the age of 30 who presented that day with complaints of breast lumps. Nothing to fret about though, most lumps at that age are benign (non-cancerous). Still, it is a cause for great concern regardless.... As my people say in pidgin English "na from clap them take dey enter dance". The English version I guess, would be "little drops of water make a mighty ocean" or "a journey of a thousand miles, begins with a step".


So ladies, over to the topic of the day. We all want to look our best, sexy is usually the word. Sexy to both the male and female minds especially in Nigeria means big boobs and bums, until recently, (that's until Agbani Darego won the miss world contest) . What am I even saying? Even till date, in Nigeria it's almost the same. By the way, you know this notion was created by our male counterparts. It's all they seem to look at. They never seem to consider the brain, Lol. Growing up, I knew busty women to go for simple cloth or lace bras, while the almost flat-chested females went for padded bras, some with a thin sheet of metal beneath the cup for the push-up effect.  Times have changed, and so in the bid to look hot and sexy, we all go for tight push-up bras, extra hips and bums underwear. (It's so funny! The first day I saw the extra padded hips in a lingerie shop, I almost collapse with laughter).

Some myths have come up in the process of looking for firm, pointed boobs the non - surgical way. They include;

  • To start wearing bras very early. Some people have discounted this one by saying, wearing bras too early may hinder the growth of the boobs rather than firm them. 
  • To sleep with a tight bra. The postulators claimed that it not only firms the breast, but that it also gives cleavage. This has not been scientifically proven. 
Just so I can get more info than speculation, I decided to check out what people had to say about it on the web. Now there are a whole lot of controversy surrounding this issue. Some people are for the argument, while others are against it. For those who are for the argument, the theory is that women who wear bras for longer than 12 hours have a 21 fold increase to developing breast cancer than women who don't. They say when it's tighter with under-wire, even worse. The claim is that tight bras impede the proper flow of the lymphatic system leading to accumulation of toxins in the breast. What I'm very sure of by the what is that breast cancer is caused mainly by factors that increase the levels of estrogen in the blood. Other predisposing factors to breast cancer include: alcohol, smoking, poor diet, obesity, some medications e.t.c. (But I guess these can also any type of cancer, now can't it?)

One of the people who are against this theory questioned why men have breast cancer too. Afterall, they don't wear bras. To this I say, "only 1% of men develop breast cancer. Most likely due to the fact that they have lower estrogen levels. Or maybe because they don't wear bras. (Don't mind me, just been funny @the last statement.)

Now Bras may not be the cause of cancer but may be a predisposing factor, but I know that wearing tight bras cause the following problems;
  • Back pain
  • Skin Irritation (contact dermatitis) especially those with under-wires
  • Chest pain and some difficulty with breathing even when eating. I know I always remove my bra when I want to eat.
So now you have it. What's the big deal anyway, I'm sure we can all do without bra for some hours. It wouldn't hurt, would it? If this theory turns out to be true, it would save loads of lives right? Well, let's be safe in the meantime, while I continue my research. Right now, another old postulation/theory is coming to mind that I think I'd like to look into. Until then guys...

Cheers......

2 comments:

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