Bra Study Overturns Breast Cancer Risk Myth

A 1991 study said that pre-menopausal women who wear bras have a more increased risk of breast cancer than their non-bra-wearing counterparts. The reason at the time was attributed to the idea that bra wearing is done by overweight women who have sagging breasts and need bras to help protect their breasts. Women who wear bras were considered to cut off lymph circulation traps toxins in your breast. Healthier women who had a more proportional physique were far more likely to go braless and would thus experience a more reduced cancer risk because their breasts, free from being “trapped” within a brassiere, would circulate fluid regularly and ultimately release the toxins in their breast (which would then funnel out of the body).

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A new study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention found the old 1991 study and the breast cancer risk myth to be just that – a myth. The study involved 1,500 women and consisted of placing 1,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer against 469 post-menopausal women who had never been diagnosed with breast cancer. The study inquired about women’s bra cup sizes, whether they like to go braless or wear a bra, whether or not women wear their bras 8 hours a day or less, soft cup/wire preference, and so on. The results of the study showed that none of these factors played a role in some women having a more probable chance of breast cancer contraction over others.

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The bra/breast cancer study shows that there are other factors involved outside of bra wearing. Environment is one factor, and, considering the amount of processed foods humans ingest on a daily basis, we could be eating at our own risk. Drinks are also another part of the puzzle, as companies like drink manufacturers for Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been forced by environmentalists to reduce the amount of high fructose corn syrup in their beverages.

Another study pertains to genetics, meaning that some who do not have breast cancer mutation genes may not ever see a trace of the disease, while even some women who never wear bras may still contract the disease. Seventy-five percent of the women involved in the study reported that they wear their bra at least through the entire, regulatory 8-hour day.