Just found this new site , body health debate makes interesting reading about the possible link between deodorants and BC .Also found a artical called the (Enemy Oestrogen) by Dr Phillipa Dabre. Thought it may be of interest.
hi where do i look it up please as using no end of deodrant in this weather. what do they reccommend…
Just to add, I am allergic to most deodorants and so haven’t used any for years…and I still got BC
Louise
If you look on reputable sites (eg. Cancer Bacup) or ask the nurses at Breast Cancer Care about deodroants you will find that there is no storng evidence of a link between breast cancer and deodorant use.
There was a sudy in 2004 which found parabens(a chemical in some doedorants) in the breast tumours of 18 out of 20 breats tumour examined. However, this study is not considered methodologically sound because breast tissue from people who use deodorants and don’t have breast cancer was not examined.
I think personally that the stories circulating about deodorants are not backed up by scientific evidence…and sometimes they can be uneccessarily scaremongering.
Many women do though prefer to use paraben free deodorants and cosmetics just in case. And there is also an argument called the precautionary principle…a kind of better safe than sorry approach. Again personally I go with majority scientific view.
Jane
Thanks Jane for your comments,
I did find the artical by Dr Phillipa Dabre (the enemy oestrogen) to be very interesting reading , she covers the possible risk of deodorants and other enviromental factors which can mimic oestrogen in her piece,I think youll find she is very reputable in her field , she is a senior lecturer in oncology and has spent many years in research including at cancer research uk. She herself has stopped useing deodorants . Dr Robert Thomas a leading breast cancer specialist also supposrts this stance and has also written on the subject.
So I dont find it scaremongering at all ,as we need to look at all possibilities.
I think at the end of the day all we can do is look at the views of some of the experts in cancer research and make up our own minds. My view is why take the risk ?
all the best
Lindiloo
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It is simply not the case that parabens are a proven carcinogen. Yes there is a minority in the research community who adopt the precautionary principle in relation to parabens.
I think about 90% of deodorants don’t contain parabens anyway.
Studies do not show a causal link between deodorant use and breast cancer.
Excellent piece on CRUK about this issue.
Jane
Hi Molly.
Thanks for your comments , you raise some very valid points.I too believe that what we put on the outside of our bodies is very likely to penetrate to the inside. as you say NRT patches/HRT patches are proof of that , so to think that deodorants cant do the same i think a bit nieve,
Dabre also mensions the possible connection to other breast lumps ,such as cysts/fibrodeomas ect and states she has had 7 independant people tell her of their expierence of how breast cysts have disappeared upon cessation of antiperspirant , ummmm is this a coincidence?
Parabens like you say are proven carcinogens and and are found in anything from body creams to cosmetics and sun tan lotions,the cosmetic industry is big busisness and are quick to dismiss any link, Interestinly COLIPA states parabens are hydrolysed in the skin and do not enter the blood stream ,however when paraben cream was spread on the backs of healthy men in a danish study,it showed up in their blood samples within hours.
We need to make our own decisions on the findings that are available to us but for me as there is growing evidence of a risk here.
I gave up deodorant a year ago when i was DX and definately have no intensions of useing them again as i said earler, why take the risk.
Lindiloo
Hi Jane,
The Antiperspirant agents are aluminiun salts,and aluminiun has been shown able to bind to the DNA of a cell, the general toxicity is recognised in the context of alzheimers desease, some scientists suggest that aluminium can bind to oestrogen receptors potentially damaging the cells DNA and triggering abnormal growth behaviour .
While it has not been proved yet that parabens can cause cancer. parabens have been shown to mimic the action of the female hormone oestrogen .Oestrogen itself does not cause cancer but some scientists believe that, if the DNA of a cell is already damaged and predisposed to cancerous growth, the presence of Parabens could accelerate this.
Lindiloo
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Hi all
To follow up on Jane’s last point
cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=3943
info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/cancercontroversies/deodorants/
on the CRUK site both contain information on this subject.
Best wishes
Ann
Thanks Ann,
I was and am awear of the current views expressed on the above sites, however most suggest that further research is needed to prove/disprove a link, and i think untill this happens there can be no definitive answer, as for myself I continue to think why take the risk? and very much prefer to err on the side of caution ,
I found when checking all my products this morning that 99% of them contain 1-5 different parabens, and a well know deodorant that is still on my shelf contains both aluminium and parabens, i think we are all definately exposed to a chemical overload and that cannot be good for our health or well being. Can it?
No doubt the debate will go on for some time to come on these issues and so it should.
All the Best.
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It is interesting how much stuff contains parabens but I’ve had no trouble avoiding them and have done for years. I stopped using deodorants 10 years ago, wear makeup about once a year only use pure oils and things like shea butter as a moisturisers and even then very rarely. I discovered that not washing the face with harsh soaps and not using creams meant that I didn’t need them anymore.
Still got BC and a tumour in each breast, doubt they’d have found any parabens in there, not to say there’s no connection but pretty sure in can’t be a cause, maybe assists in the growth of a tumour though.
Mineral based makeups are becoming more available now which is good, a goth friend of mine swears that you can make the most striking cream shadows using a moisturiser and the raw pigments.
I do have to agree that we are all bombarded with this stuff though. eg flouridation of water supplies that’s being considered. That’s mass medication and it’s against our human rights (a person should be able to refuse treatments and you can’t if it’s in the water), a dangerous path to go down in my opinion. Sorry to digress there.
My onc dows not make many recomendations as she feels alot of articles are still to be proven eg about lifestyle etc. She did say to use a roll on deodorant preferably aluminium free.