Q: My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in November. She has yearly mammograms and nothing was seen on the previous one. Her cancer is fast growing; it doubled in size in six weeks. She had a mastectomy before Christmas. She was reading an article that stated that soy milk could cause breast cancer. She has been using soy milk on her breakfast cereal for about two years. How much estrogen is there in a glass of soy milk? This information seems hard to get.
A: I am sorry to hear about your sister. There have been recent studies showing that women with dense tissue in their breasts may have problems with early detection of cancer through mammograms. The mammogram just shows a whitish area, and cannot always differentiate cancers from the surrounding tissue.
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However, the cancer may simply have developed since her last mammogram. This shows the importance of manual breast self-examination at least once a month.
The jury is still out on whether soy products are harmful to women in terms of developing breast cancer.
The American Institute for Cancer said the studies on soy and breast cancer are not conclusive and that more research needs to be done before any dietary recommendations can be made.
Chinese and other Asian people who eat and drink soy on a daily basis do not seem to have any higher rates of breast cancer than we do, but they do appear to suffer less from menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.
The answer might depend on your sister’s age. Is she post-menopausal? Studies have shown that soy could add to estrogen levels in older women, thus increasing the risk of breast cancer.
Younger women, who may be low in natural estrogen in the pre-menopausal phase, may actually benefit from drinking soy.
Regarding the actual amount of estrogen in a glass of soy milk, it is really quite small. I don’t have the exact numbers either, but a dietitian might know. You have to eat or drink soy at practically every meal to have any marked effect on estrogen levels in your body.
Other foods such as berries and lima beans also contain plant estrogens and the common hormone replacement therapy pill, Provera, is made mostly from soy.
Electric toothbrushes
Q: Can brushing your teeth with an electric toothbrush cause a person to have seizures?
A: Doctors in Australia published a study describing three people who had suffered epileptic seizures while brushing their teeth. The researchers proceeded to examine the brains of these people using imaging techniques and found each had small scars in the region of the brain that is close to the part
that controls hand movements and speech.
“The rhythmic act of brushing teeth may excite an already overly excitable area of the brain,” said lead author Dr. Wendyl D’Souza, of the University of Melbourne in
Australia.
“This is similar to photosensitive epilepsy, which involves seizures triggered by flashing lights and moving patterns.”
I believe this study involved the use of regular toothbrushes, but I expect that electric toothbrushes might be even more likely to have this effect, due to the vibrations. They may also aggravate dizziness
in people who have inner ear
problems.
These seizures only seem to occur in individuals who already have a tendency toward epilepsy or who are known sufferers.
Clare Rowson is a retired medical doctor with a practice near Belleville, Ont. Her columns are intended for general information only. Individuals are encouraged to also seek the advice of their own doctor regarding medical questions and treatments.
