Here are the basic facts on breast cancer:

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers) and is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women today. It is the leading killer of women age 35 to 54. 
• The risk of getting breast cancer has tripled over the last five decades.  Here in the United States, however, breast cancer rates actually decreased by 10% between 2000 and 2004, due in part to a reduction in the use of hormone replacement therapy.
• According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually worldwide, and about 465,000 will die from the disease each year. And, while the incidence is much rarer than that in women, men also may develop breast cancer.
• Twenty-five percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer die within five years, and 40 percent within 10 years of their diagnosis. Breast cancer in younger women (under age 50) tends to be more aggressive and malignant.

And here are some key perspectives on how to prevent the disease:

For most women, breast cancer probably begins in very early life, possibly even during prenatal development.  Most cases probably develop over several decades before they emerge as a life-threatening disease.  Among the best-established ways to beat breast cancer is through breast cancer screening, which detects the cancer in earlier stages and therefore translates into a much greater likelihood of a cure.

Randomized controlled trials and large-scale screening programs have shown that periodic screening does lead to earlier detection and a reduction in breast cancer mortality.  Indeed, breast cancer death rates have been dropping steadily since 1990, mainly due to earlier detection and improved treatments. (Increased screening efforts are also thought to contribute to the rising prevalence of breast cancer over the past three decades.)

Understandably, many women are concerned about safe and effective methods for the early detection of breast cancer.  In one episode of on "Larry King Live", popular musician Sheryl Crow said, "I had a check up a month before I was diagnosed and it was negative.  I was told by my oncologist that the cancer was probably there for five years before it manifested itself in anyway that could be noticed.”  In that same interview, Lance Armstrong, another cancer survivor said, "We can successfully treat one third of cancers just by distributing information about early detection.  It’s a shameful reality that we aren’t doing more to provide diagnostic tools to help people get this early detection information that is so desperately needed."

 For decades, breast self-examination and mammography have been touted as the screening techniques of choice.  And until November 2009, it was recommended that all women begin undergoing regular annual mammograms starting at age 40.  However, the recently revised federal guidelines for mammograms—waiting until age 50 to get the first one and then only getting one every two years—have caused many people to question the safety and efficacy of mammography and to begin looking for other options.

Despite the value of mammography in detecting early breast cancers, most radiographically identified lesions are ultimately found to be benign on histologic assessment after biopsy.  National statistics indicate that up to four out of five of all breast biopsies have benign outcomes.  Moreover, mammography often misses tumors that are embedded in denser breasts, as is usually the case with younger women and with many older women as well.

 For theses reasons, recommendations by radiologists are increasingly supporting the use of thermography as an adjunct to mammograms in the effort to avoid as many invasive procedures.  An abnormal thermagram (or positive infrared scan) may indicate the presence of various breast problems, such as benign tumors, cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, mastitis, and others.  Each infrared image can be viewed as a kind of fingerprint, a unique infrared map of each individual’s breasts. Over the course of months to years, any change in this infrared map can constitute an early sign of a breast health problem.

 With an abnormal thermagram, you would then get an ultrasound in order to determine whether you have a cyst or mass of some kind.  We use several effective, non-invasive strategies to eliminate cysts and prevent future cysts from forming.  If it’s a mass, then a biopsy (and/or MRI) may be indicated.  If there is no cyst or mass, there is still room for concern because of the presence of the temperature increase, which again in turn could reflect the earliest phases of cancer development, according to the International Academy of Clinical Thermology.  The point is that, with any abnormal thermagram, you can still be proactive and adopt an anti-cancer self-care program on a precautionary basis.

Among the key strategies for preventing breast cancer from developing the following:

• Eat a high-fiber, anti-inflammatory diet (plenty of vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and some fruits, as well as a low intake of land-animal   products and refined carbohydrates)
• Eat cruciferous or cabbage family veggies, 3-5 servings/day
• Appropriate dietary fat intake, minimizing saturated fats and trans fats, and emphasizing more omega-3 fatty acids
• Establish healthy body composition
• Get regular aerobic exercise and muscle workouts
• Maintain healthful sleep patterns
• Regular exposure to mid-day summer sun
• Curb exposure to low-frequency EMFs
• Curb exposure to ionizing radiation
• Stop smoking, avoid second-hand smoke
• Limit alcohol, maintain good folic acid intake