Pivotal Health

Women who have had breast cancer can increase their chances of survival with soy products. According to a recent study, high consumption of soy may reduce risk of relapse by 32%. The study conducted in China, where soy is consumed in large quantities, found that soy reduces the risk of death from breast cancer and relapse.

The results surprised, considering that there are experts who fear that a chemical in soy, called isoflavones (which mimic the female sex hormone, estrogen), can promote breast cancer. U.S. researchers led by Dr. Xiao Ou Shu Vaderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, analyzed data collected from a total of over 5,000 patients who have survived breast cancer in China. Women aged between 20 and 75 years were monitored for a period of four years. During this time, 444 women died and 534 relapses were registered.

The study showed that participants in the study who consumed higher amounts of soy had a 29% lower risk of death and a 32% reduction of suffering a relapse. Study results showed that benefits were influenced by the amount, so the more a woman consumes more soy, more increases protection.

“This study shows that moderate consumption of soy is not a health hazard and may be beneficial in breast cancer. Patients with breast cancer should be aware that soy milk can be consumed without worry that soy or other products in large quantities can reduce the risk of relapse of the disease, “said researchers for the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Prof. Dr. George Mencinicopschi, director of the Institute of Food Research recommends soy, but only if is obtained without being genetically modified.

Breast cancer: curable if discovered in time – Breast cancer cause is unknown, but it has identified a number of risk factors:

• Advanced age: the risk of breast cancer increases with age);
• Genetic factors (mother or sister with breast cancer);
• The first full term pregnancy at an age of over 30 years;
• Personal history of breast cancer in the other breast;
• Personal history of benign proliferative breast lesions, changes in mammographic dysplasia;
• High dose of ionizing irradiation to the chest for diagnostic or therapeutic (x-rays, mammography, radiation for therapeutic purposes);
• Breast exposure to solar radiation;
• Menarche (first menstruation) early (under age 11) and / or late (after age 55);
• Postmenopausal obesity and diet high in fat and fine sweets;
• History of endometrial cancer (the endometrium) or ovarian cancer;
• Micro-traumatisms to breast, especially repeated.