Jane Tomlinson

Jane Tomlinson

Jane Tomlinson Th Telegraph had an interesting article about her today ; to get to it, got to :

telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2006/07/17/
hjane17.xml

Thanks you for the link It was very interesting.

As a side issue, I enjoyed this extract about diet:

"Among those whose cancers had spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes, a diet rich in milk and protein helped them live longer. "

I ignored Jane Plant because I was not prepared to totally change my diet without better evidence that dairy produce is so deadly. I also don’t take seriously a PhD in another field implying she acquired it for her dietary or medical knowledge to sell more books…

Those with secondaries should throw her book out and eat your ice cream without guilt.

Yes, interesting. Did I feel guilty slurping down my favourite meal of macaroni cheese tonight? Not at all!

I think Jane Tomlinson is fantastic. And I think diet and exercise can make a phenomenal difference to both treatment and disease outcomes.

I must point out however, that the WHOLE quote is:

In a recent study in America diets high in fibre and protein and low in processed fats were found to increase survival rates. Among those whose cancers had spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes, a diet rich in milk and protein helped them live longer. Tomlinson does not fuss about her diet. At just over 50 kilos she is certainly not overweight and she says she eats “normally”, taking isotonic drinks on bike rides and the occasional glass of wine to relax.

So, if a breast cancer has already metastasised, milk was protective. But there is research suggesting that is because of the Vitamin D content, or because of the protective effect of calcium.

I think the jury is still out on the dairy issue, and Jane Plant was the first person to raise the whole diet issue for breast cancer. As a PhD geochemist myself, the training she has was certainly good enough to argue with medics! Many doctors are too busy to keep up with current reserach, and as a patient you become the expert of your own case.

One last thing…the diet they were talking about is low in processed fats, so cheese is probably not the best thing! As an ex-cheese lover, I gave it up when I saw the study about low-fat diets (less than 32g a day) showing a 42% relative risk reduction for node-negative hormone-negative patients.

My treat is dark chocolate! A little goes a long way…

Tina xx

Luxury of Time By coincidence I am just reading her book, the Luxury of Time which she wrote with her husband Mike, detailing a diary of her diagnosis and treatment. She really tells it like it is with all the arguments and petty household and family tiffs, and yes she is to be much admired. Thoroughly recommend the book.

I do worry about the lack of medical backup It says in the article that she doesn’t have any on this trip. I admire what she is doing, but hope that she will be o.k.

dairy free Me too,a big fan of Jane Tomkinson.I read Jane Plants book when I was on chemo and went vegan straight away(have always been vegitarian so that helped)Still miss cheese but find soya icecream nicer than the real stuff ever was.I,m back to the weight I was before it started creeping up a few years before the bc, Must say I feel fitter and happier to have my old figure back.Being hormone neg with no tamox etc.to keep it at bay I feel I’m doing my bit.

Hi Tina Good for you for standing up for Jane Plant’s professional qualifications. OK, people have very different views about her theories, but one of the reasons that her theories are dismissed seems to be because some people think that, because she’s a Geochemist and not a medic, her arguments have no credibility.

She’s a scientist so I agree she has the training to hold her own in discussions with medics and other scientists. As someone who’s experienced the disease, she has a desire to look at all possible causes, which is something many busy doctors won’t bother to do. And I don’t imagine that one gets to be a Professor by being an airhead.

Also, the information on the US study is very vague - how many people were studied and how long were the survival rates extended? weeks, months, years?

I agree the jury is still out on dairy and I’m with you on the dark chocolate too!