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HOW BRAS CAUSE LYMPH STASIS
(Lymph
Stasis is a slowing or stoppage of
the normal flow of a bodily fluid…
in this case lymphatic fluid)
AND BREAST CANCER
Sydney Ross Singer
Medical Anthropologist
When it was first announced back in
1995, the world was in shock. Bras
cause breast cancer! You’re kidding,
right? How could this foundation
garment that lifts and shapes the
breast be a source of disease? If
this was true, then why hasn’t this
information been announced before
now by mainstream medicine? It must
be false!
As medical anthropologists, we
examine the cultural causes of
disease. We became personally
involved in our own breast cancer
scare when Soma, my wife and
co-researcher, discovered a lump in
her breast. We were in Fiji at the
time, and she was pregnant. The
shock sent us back to the US in fear
and anxiety as we desperately tried
to figure out what she could have
been doing to her breasts to have
caused the lump. Soma was otherwise
a healthy person. It made no sense
that she would have breast cancer.
Looking for clues, we examined the
red marks and indentations in her
skin left by her bra. Most women
experience these same signs of
constriction. We had seen them every
day, but ignored them as a normal
part of bra-wearing. Now, they were
clues into what might have caused
Soma’s lump.
When you think about it, the first
thing to suspect when it comes to
foot disease are shoes. If you are
having breathing problems, the first
thing to suspect is smoking. And
when it comes to breast problems,
the first thing to suspect is the
bra.
We discovered that doctors knew bras
were causing breast cancer as far
back as the 1930’s. For example, Dr.
John Mayo, one of the founders of
the Mayo Clinic, wrote in the
article “Susceptibility to Cancer” in the
1931
Annals of Surgery,
that “Cancer of the breast
occurs largely among civilized
women. In those countries where
breasts are allowed to be exposed,
that is, are not compressed or
irritated by clothing, it
(breast cancer) is rare.” A bra patent in 1950 stated, “Even in
the proper breast size, most
brassieres envelop or bind the
breast in such a fashion that normal
circulation and freedom of movement
is constricted. Many cases of breast
cancer have been attributed to such
breast constriction as caused by
improperly fitted brassieres.”
The problem caused by bras is due to
their constriction of the breasts,
particularly of the lymphatic
system, which is responsible for
eliminating toxins, cancer cells,
bacteria, viruses, and cellular
debris from the breasts. The
lymphatics are an essential
circulatory pathway of the immune
system.
(our lymphatic system consists of very fine spaces between the
cells of our tissues, where
lymphatic fluids flow, carrying
waste products from those cells to
lymph nodes, which test the fluid
for any possible diseases or cancer
cells, and then passes the fluid on
to where it goes into our
bloodstream, where other organs
clean out the waste products.)
Constrict the microscopic, easily
compressed lymph vessels with tight
bras, and the result is lymph fluid
congestion in the breasts, or lymph
stasis, along with tissue
toxification
(imagine a garbage workers’ strike
in New York City).
This can cause breast pain and cysts
(which are filled with this lymph
fluid). Over time, as the breasts
progressively become toxic from
impaired lymphatic drainage, cancer
could result.
Realize that the lymphatic system is
our immune system’s circulatory
pathway leading from the tissue
spaces
(interlaced
between our body cells) to lymph nodes,
(we have lymph nodes all
over our body, and a whole bunch
surrounding our breasts)
which screen the lymph for signs
(looking for ‘markers’) that an immune response is needed.
The lymph fluid starts around the
cells and drains the tissue spaces
of fluid and any bacteria, viruses,
cancer cells, toxins, and cellular
debris. The nodes are factories for
white blood-cell production, to
fight any detected infections or
developing cancer cells. The lymph
ultimately returns to the blood
stream.
(Any) interfering
with this pathway results in lymph
stasis, a stagnation of the
lymph fluid that results in various
diseases, including cancer.
Sometimes this lymph stasis is
obvious to see, as with lymphedema
and swollen tissue
(and felt… like those painful breast
cysts). At other times, lymphedema could be
mild, but chronic and cumulative
(occurring
often, and building up over time).
Recently, pathologists have
identified a new organ in the body
that medicine never realized
existed. Its proposed name is the “interstitium”,
and it consists of a lymph-fluid
filled space that surrounds cells
and flushes fluid to the lymphatics,
acting as a pre-lymphatic space.
This space was not previously
recognized because the method of
tissue examination
(used up until now)
destroyed it. Modern probes can
(now… finally)
be inserted into living tissue
and observe this space. Cancer cells
travel through the interstitium
(our body frequently makes our very
own cancer cells, but if they can be
carried away in the lymph, they will
be destroyed by our immune system),
making its flow
(lymphatic fluid flow)
important for cancer prevention and
recovery. Of course, obstructing the
interstitium with tight bras
(lymphatic flow is
stopped from flowing with only
slight pressure on the skin)
would impair lymph flow, causing
lymph stasis
(which fails to remove cancer cells,
so they stay and develop into a
malignancy).
In addition to tissue toxification
(making body tissues
become toxic from cellular wastes,
bacteria, etc.) from reduced lymphatic clearance
(restricting the lymphatic fluid
from clearing the waste products out
the interstitium),
another problem caused by lymph
stasis is that cancer cells and
their immune markers cannot easily
get to the lymph nodes
(immune ‘markers’ are
what tell the lymph nodes which
antibodies are needed to fight a
disease).
This poor communication between the
tissues and the lymph nodes results
in reduced immune response to cancer
(those cancer cells that we
ourselves are making),
and increased tumor growth, as
recent dermatology studies show.
Keep in mind that the breasts are
accessory skin organs.
In a 2014 paper in the journal
Clinical Dermatology, entitled,
“Lymphedema and subclinical
lymphostasis (microlymphedema)
facilitate cutaneous infection,
inflammatory dermatoses, and
neoplasia: A locus minoris
resistentiae”, the author explains,
“Chronic lymph stasis has numerous
consequences, including lipogenesis,
fibrosis, inflammation,
lymphangiogenesis, and
immunosuppression. For example,
lymphedema's disruption of immune
cell trafficking leads to localized
immune suppression, predisposing the
area affected to chronic
inflammation, infection (cellulitis
and verrucosis), and malignancy (angiosarcoma
and nonmelanoma skin cancer).”
In other words, lymph stasis in the
breasts reduces the ability of the
immune system to fight cancer cells.
Other researchers have discovered
that surgical damage to the
lymphatic system promotes tumor
growth by this mechanism. For
example, in the 2017 study in the
Journal of Dermatological Science,
called, “Surgical damage to the
lymphatic system promotes tumor
growth via impaired adaptive immune
response”, the authors conclude,
“These results strongly indicate
that surgical damage of the
lymphatic system may promote tumor
progression via impaired adaptive
immune response.” (even simple scar tissue can harm the function of the
lymphatic/immune system.)
A 2018 article published in the
Journal of Dermatological Science,
called, “Lymph stasis promotes tumor
growth”, echoes that 2017 study’s
findings.
·
These
findings come as no surprise to us
who for a long time have been aware
that alterations in regional
lymphatic flow may produce
dysregulation in skin immune
function and consequent oncogenesis
(changing the natural function of
the immune system prevents it from
stopping oncogenesis… or the process
by which normal cells become cancer
cells, such as genetic mutation
during normal cellular division).
In fact, since 2002, our team has
held the view that lymphedematous
areas are immunologically vulnerable
sites for the development of
neoplasms as well as infections and
immune-mediated diseases. In recent
years, increasing evidence has
confirmed this assumption…. several
other cutaneous malignancies have
been reported to appear in the
presence of lymph stasis, such as
basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell
carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma,
melanoma, malignant fibrous
histiocytoma and lymphoma. Further
evidence of the oncologic
vulnerability of lymphedematous
regions ensues from the occurrence
of multiple skin malignancies in the
presence of lymph stasis. More than
20 basal cell carcinomas occurred on
a patient’s leg after recurrent
erysipelas and chronic lymphedema….
In simple words, lymph stasis
functionally means
immune stasis
(if the lymphatic system is not functioning, the immune system
cannot function, which leads to
increased cancer development).
When regions of the skin (or
breasts) become immunocompromised
(the
immune system is not able to
function properly)
it is termed an immunocompromised
cutaneous district, or ICD. In the
2014 article, “The immunocompromised
district in dermatology: A unifying
pathogenic view of the regional
immune dysregulation”, in the
journal Clinical Dermatology,
the author explains,
·
The factors responsible for
localized immune dysregulation are
multifarious,
being represented by chronic
lymphatic stasis, herpetic
infections, ionizing or ultraviolet
(UV) radiations, burns, all sorts of
trauma (especially amputation),
tattooing, intradermal vaccinations,
and others of disparate nature (eg,
paralytic stroke, poliomyelitis).
Whatever the cause, in time an ICD
may become a vulnerable site, prone
to developing opportunistic
infections, tumors, or dysimmune
reactions (often of granulomatous
type), strictly confined to the
district itself… The pathomechanisms
involved in this sectorial immune
destabilization may reside in
locally hampered lymph drainage that
hinders the normal trafficking of
immunocompetent cells.
(many different conditions can render the lymphatic and immune
systems in an area ineffective, such
as UV radiation, tattoos, herpes,
lymphatic stasis, etc., and that
area can then become more vulnerable
to cancer.)
It should be explained that these
studies have not considered the bra
as a cause of lymph stasis of the
breasts. That conclusion is logical
from these skin studies. Tight
clothing impairs the interstitium
and the lymphatic vessels, which is
evidenced by seeing indentations and
marks in the skin. This compression
of the tissues impairs lymphatic
function and immune competence.
As research into the interstitium
and lymph stasis progresses, it is
hoped that pathologists can look up
from the microscopic view of the
human body to see the macroscopic
way we treat our bodies, which is
all conditioned by our culture.
Human beings are not merely
biological units.
(scientists often only see the microscopic world. Hopefully they
can step back and get the big
picture. They study the tree… but
ignore the forest. A damaged
lymphatic system can cause cancer…
but they are not seeing what causes
the damage to the lymphatic system?)
Our biology is modified by our
culture and the things it leads us
to do, such as wear tight clothing
to alter body shape. You cannot
change shape without changing
lymphatic flow, since pressure must
be constantly applied to soft tissue
to achieve the desired shape.
This pressure impairs lymph flow and
increases cancer risk, along with
the creation of other diseases of
constriction. For the breasts this
includes pain and lymph-fluid-filled
cysts. It also makes the breasts
heavy with lymph, resulting in
increased breast droop. Women who
stop wearing bras report rapid
improvement in breast health,
including reduced pain and cysts,
and a lifting and toning of the
breasts.
Clearly, further research is needed
to better demonstrate the impact of
chronic clothing constriction on the
body. In the meantime, women should
be warned about the hazards of tight
bras, and all people should consider
the tightness of their clothing and
undergarments.
References and further reading:
1991 Harvard study (CC
Hsieh, D Trichopoulos (1991).
Breast size, handedness and breast
cancer risk.
European Journal of Cancer and
Clinical Oncology 27(2):131-135.).
This study found that,
“Premenopausal women who do not wear
bras had half the risk of breast
cancer compared with bra users…”
1991-93 U.S. Bra and
Breast Cancer Study by Singer and
Grismaijer, published in Dressed
To Kill: The Link Between Breast
Cancer and Bras (Second
Edition, Square One Publishers,
2018). Found that bra-free women
have about the same incidence of
breast cancer as men. 24/7 bra
wearing increases incidence over 100
times that of a bra-free woman.
Singer and Grismaijer
did a follow-up study in Fiji,
published in Get
It Off! (ISCD
Press, 2000). Found 24 case
histories of breast cancer in a
culture where half the women are
bra-free. The women getting breast
cancer were all wearing bras. Given
women with the same genetics and
diet and living in the same village,
the ones getting breast disease were
the ones wearing bras for work.
A 2009 Chinese study
(Zhang AQ, Xia JH, Wang Q, Li WP, Xu
J, Chen ZY, Yang JM (2009).
[Risk factors of breast cancer in
women in Guangdong and the
countermeasures].
In Chinese. Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue
Xue Bao. 2009 Jul;29(7):1451-3.)
This article found that NOT sleeping
in a bra was protective against
breast cancer, lowering the risk
60%.
2011
a study
was published,
in Spanish, confirming that bras are
causing breast disease and cancer.
It found that underwired and
push-up bras are the most harmful,
but any bra that leaves red marks or
indentations may cause disease.
2014 Lymphedema
and subclinical lymphostasis (microlymphedema)
facilitate cutaneous infection,
inflammatory dermatoses, and
neoplasia: A locus minoris
resistentiae. Clin
Dermatol. 2014
Sep-Oct;32(5):599-615.
2015
Comparative
study of breast cancer risk factors
at Kenyatta National Hospital and
the Nairobi Hospital
J. Afr. Cancer (2015) 7:41-46. This
study found a significant bra-cancer
link in pre-and post-menopausal
women.
2016
Wearing
a Tight Bra for Many Hours a Day is
Associated with Increased Risk of
Breast Cancer
Adv Oncol Res Treat 1: 105.
This is the
first epidemiological study to look
at bra tightness and time worn, and
found a significant bra-cancer link.
2016 Brassiere
wearing and breast cancer risk: A
systematic review and meta-analysis World
J Meta-Anal. Aug
26, 2015; 3(4): 193-205
"This
systematic review and meta-analysis
aimed to evaluate the association
between 8 areas of brassiere-wearing
practices and the risk of breast
cancer. Twelve case-control studies
met inclusion criteria for review.
Although the meta-analysis shows
statistically significant findings
to support the association between
brassiere wearing during sleep and
breast cancer risk, evidence was
insufficient to establish a positive
association between brassiere
wearing (duration and type) and
breast cancer risk. A large-scale
epidemiological study is needed to
examine the relationship between
various forms of brassiere exposure
and breast cancer risk.”
2016
Lymphatic Vessels, Inflammation, and
Immunity in Skin
Cancer Cancer
Discov. 2016 Jan; 6(1): 22–35.
2017 Surgical
damage to the lymphatic system
promotes tumor growth via impaired
adaptive immune response Journal
of Dermatological Science April
2018Volume 90, Issue 1, Pages 46–51
"These results
strongly indicate that surgical
damage of the lymphatic system may
promote tumor progression via
impaired adaptive immune response.”
2018 Mechanical
forces in skin disorders Journal
of Dermatological Science Available
March 2018 "Mechanical
forces are known to regulate
homeostasis of the skin and play a
role in the pathogenesis of
skin diseases….Acral
melanoma predominantly occurs in the
weight-bearing area of the foot
suggesting the role of mechanical
stress. Increased dermal stiffness
from fibrosis might
be the cause of recessive
dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa associated squamous
cell carcinoma.”
2018 Lymph
stasis promotes tumor growth Journal
of Dermatological Science
“[t]hese
findings come as no surprise to us
who for a long time have been aware
that alterations in
regional lymphatic flow may produce
dysregulation in skin immune
function and consequent oncogenesis.
In fact, since 2002, our team has
held the view that lymphedematous
areas are immunologically vulnerable
sites for the development of
neoplasms as well as infections and
immune-mediated diseases. In recent
years, increasing evidence has
confirmed this assumption.”
2018
Structure and Distribution of an
Unrecognized Interstitium in Human
Tissues
Scientific Reports
volume 8,
Article number: 4947
(2018).
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