Abha Light Foundation
Alternative Medicine in the News
July 2009      edition 30
published weekly

in this issue
:: Watch Out for Flying Syringes, GMO Food Vaccines, and Forced Vaccinations
:: Three Herbs with Powerful Health Benefits You Should Know About
:: Learn the Truth about Apple Cider Vinegar and Weight Loss
:: The Benefits and Uses of Gotu Kola (Brahmi)
:: Ease Excruciating Earaches Naturally
:: Health services at the new Abha Light House
:: Mulberries Treat Insomnia, Arthritis, and More
:: Medical Madness: More Women Scared Into Double Mastectomy as Way to "Prevent" Cancer
Watch Out for Flying Syringes, GMO Food Vaccines, and Forced Vaccinations

A Japanese Research team is working on genetically engineering mosquitoes to deliver vaccines. These are the flying vaccines of the future. Far fetched? Bill Gates doesn't think so. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2008 allotted a $100,000 grant to this research team for just that project. This is from the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, Washington Chapter website.

GMO's Enable Trojan Horse Vaccinations
Edible vaccines, as GMO foods, are in the future as well. Meat and Poultry, a business journal for meat and poultry processors, reports in a May 5, 2009 article , by Bryan Salvage, that researchers at Iowa State University are working on creating a method to install vaccines into corn crops.

"We're trying to figure out which genes from the swine influenza virus to incorporate into corn", stated Hank Harris, a researcher on the project. "If a swine flu virus breaks out, the corn could be shipped to the location to try to vaccinate animals and humans in the area quickly. . . . there is no need for extensive vaccine purification, which can be an expensive process."

This way even corn products, including corn chips and corn syrup, which is ubiquitous in processed foods, can serve as vaccination vehicles for humans while the corn itself is fed to hogs. Starting in 1996, bananas have been considered as a vaccination vehicle for developing countries. Keep in mind that this will be genetically engineered, or GMO (genetically modified organisms), so you won't know where and when it will show up on the food shelves.

That's simply because the GMO firms managed to lobby for exemption from labeling GMO foods with the previous administration in the USA. Some nations are better off with labeling and tend to be GMO resistive, especially in the EU. But basically, here and in most other nations, there will be a method to sneak in vaccinations while you eat.

Maybe you want the immunity that you think exists from vaccines anyway, and eating food for vaccinations beats needles! It's cheaper too. But who's to know which foods contain what vaccines since GMO's are not labeled. How much of a vaccine is not enough and how much is too much? Are the GE food vaccines tainted? These questions linger. Since foods as vaccine Trojan Horses are genetically engineered, there are the GMO health ramifications in addition to the vaccination hazards.

Police State Vaccinations
So let's switch the time machine from near future to now. Currently, the Obama administration has the power to enforce vaccinations in an epidemic or pandemic flu breakout, or even the threat of such. This was a measure provided within the Patriot Act.

In addition, there is The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, which will have federal funding for each state that adopts a similar model. So far 38 states and the District of Columbia are on board to receive federal funding and enforce vaccinations with absolute police power, which includes detention and seizure of private property.

Currently, the Obama administration is also considering a program to ensure everyone gets three vaccinations a year as a preventative measure, in other words in lieu of an actual epidemic, starting perhaps this fall. Obama has already appropriated 1.5 billion dollars toward emergency swine flu vaccine production, and more funds are in the works.

From a Washington Post article of May 6, 2009, "The Obama administration is considering an unprecedented fall vaccination campaign that could entail giving Americans three flu shots -- one to combat annual seasonal influenza and two targeted at the new swine flu virus spreading across the globe. If enacted, the multibillion-dollar effort would represent the first time that top federal health officials have asked Americans to get more than one flu vaccine in a year, raising serious challenges . . . (with) the ability to track potentially severe side effects."

President Calderon of Mexico received dictatorial emergency powers from the Mexican congress during the recently exaggerated swine flu flap this past May. So he now has Mexico on board for the The North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza, which was finalized at the SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America) summit of August 2007 in Montebello, Quebec.

This plan involves Canada, the USA, and Mexico. The language involved with all these measures leaves the call to emergency action open for interpretation by a sole authority. That sole authority, currently within North America, is destined to be under the U.N.'s Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. Influenza System Coordinator. This provides for the full police action of whatever military groups are available to enforce vaccinations, and it is top down from afar. So who makes your health decisions?

In Europe, the government of France is considering a plan of enforcing flu shots on all of its population. They are planning on allocating one billion euros for 100 million doses from three different pharmaceutical companies. Anne Laude, co-director of the Institute of Health at the Universite Paris Descartes, said, ". . . nobody would have the right, except in the case of a medical counter-indication, to refuse a vaccination".

You may think that all this is beneficial. That at least the consequences of any epidemic or pandemic would be ameliorated. Actually, mass inoculations have a history of disaster, not publicized in the mass media, that you can read about if you go to some of the source links or urls after this article. A major one was the so called "Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 when military personnel were required to be vaccinated for the first time.

Even the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons opposes enforced vaccinations because it violates the ethics of mutual consent. Congressman and former presidential primary candidate Ron Paul, who is also a physician, made this comment. "When we give government the power to make medical decisions for us, we, in essence, accept that the state owns our bodies."

Vaccination Hazards
Many medical practitioners and researchers have broken away from the "medical mafia" with courageous efforts at disclosing the truth. But most others are still in denial, and sometimes even unethical. According to a June 4. 2009 London Times article, disclosures from several scientists have confirmed suspicions that many scientists within the medical research community fudge reports by omitting detrimental facts or even faking data to obtain conclusions that satisfy their sponsors.

Here are some comments from just a few of those courageous medical experts with integrity. More comments from other experts can be reviewed via the source links or urls.

Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, author of Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills among other books, suggests that a single vaccine can cause brain damage for two years and five vaccinations would massively increase the risk of Alzheimer's Disease.

Dr. Len Horowitz, a most thorough medical investigator states, "Casually substituting vaccination for immunization mystifies the masses. Immunization is not man-made toxin-injection. It is the natural body-guarding response to foreign proteins and germs, the most lethal of which have been transmitted to humanity through contaminated vaccines and blood supplies."

Dr. James R. Shannon, former director of the National institute of health declared, ". . . the only safe vaccine is one that is never used."

In his article Why You Should Avoid Taking Vaccines, Dr. James Howenstine, MD, cites an episode where a Dr. W. Torch was able to document 12 deaths in infants which appeared within 19 hours of a DPT immunization. Then he studied 70 cases of SIDS. Two thirds of these victims had been vaccinated from one half day to 3 weeks prior to their deaths. None were attributed to vaccines by the medical establishment or the mass media.

From Dr. Boyd Haley, professor and chair, Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky: "A single vaccine given to a six pound newborn is the equivalent of giving a 180 pound adult 30 vaccinations on the same day." "You couldn't construct a study to show that thimerosal (mercury in vaccines) is safe. It's just too damn toxic".

From a website promotion for a DVD entitled Shoot 'Em Up the Documentary, comes this information. "Did you know that we give children 23 viruses before they reach the age of 5? Did you know autism skyrocketed after the addition of more vaccines on the mandatory schedule and did you know that these vaccines contain thimerosal, which is ethyl mercury?" By the way, mercury is considered more toxic than lead and second in toxicity only to uranium.

Most vaccines are cocktails of pathogens from cultures derived from aborted fetuses or animal tissues. Thimerersol or ethyl mercury is not the only additive or preservative. Dr. Rima E. Laibow, MD, lists the ingredients common to vaccines, with some of her own comments, including, "If children receive all recommended vaccines, they will receive many times the supposed 'allowable safe limit' for mercury in the first two years of life.

Additional ingredients include antibiotics, aluminum gels, formaldehyde, monosodium glutamate (MSG), aluminum "which when combined with silicon deficiency and fluoride, results in the neurofibrillary tangles seen in Alzheimers disease, formaldehyde, MSG," a potent neurological excitotoxin which, like aspartame, can cause seizures, brain tumors, etc.

Dr. Rima goes on: "Squalene, a response enhancer or adjuvant, is present in many modern vaccines and is highly irritating to the immune system. . . . (used in) Anthrax vaccine in Gulf War I soldiers is believed by many to be a primary cause, along with depleted uranium, of the devastating condition known as Gulf War Syndrome".

An investigative journalist, Joe Vaills, now deceased, did a report on his website that disclosed a simple observation. The French troops from Gulf War I did not experience Gulf War Syndrome, and they were the only ones who did not receive Anthrax vaccinations!

What if the toxic materials are removed from vaccines? Many health experts point out the problem with bypassing the body's immune system by injecting antibodies. Dr. Rebecca Carley, MD explains, "All mammals . . . contain secretory IgA, an antibody which initiates the natural God given immune response within the respiratory tract mucosa. Bypassing this mucosal aspect of the immune system by directly injecting organisms into the bloodstream leads to a corruption in the immune system itself."

Dr. Vernon Coleman says, "My own view is that vaccinations are unsafe and worthless."

Dr. Robert W. Simpson, of Rutgers University, warned that "immunization programs against flu, measles, mumps and polio may actually be seeding humans with RNA to form provirus's which will then become latent cells throughout the body ... they can then become activated as a variety of diseases including lupus, cancer, rheumatism and arthritis."

Dr. Viera Scheibner concluded that "there is no evidence whatsoever of the ability of vaccines to prevent any diseases. To the contrary, there is a great wealth of evidence that they cause serious side effects."

Jonas and Darrell Salk warned in Science magazine of March 4, 1977 that "Live virus vaccines against influenza or poliomyelitis may in each instance produce the disease it intended to prevent, (and) the live virus against measles and mumps may produce such side effects as encephalitis (brain damage)."

Conclusion
A second article with solutions and remedies for enforced and covert vaccines is forthcoming.

Make up your own mind regarding vaccinations. Whatever your choice, it is unfair to force mass vaccinations. If you get a vaccination, it should immunize you from those of us who don't if it works, right?

Motives offered for these mass inoculations include the obvious profit motives and the less popular depopulation agenda. You can do your own research starting with the source links (urls). There has been too much suppressed information that cannot be included within the confines of this one article.

Sources:
London Times June 4, 2009 (One in Seven Scientists Say Colleagues Fake Data" Times online)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Corn for vaccinations mainstream article
http://www.meatpoultry.com

Sarkozy Plan to Inoculate the French for A-H1N1 flu
http://www.rense.com/general86/flu.htm

Graphs that show declines in diseases not from vaccinations
http://www.vaccinationdebate.com

Vaccination Banners - Several quotes with photos on vaccines from medical authorities http://www.whale.to

Why You Should Avoid Taking Vaccines by Dr. James Howenstine, MD.
http://educate-yourself.org

Comments by health experts on the Salk-Sabine polio vaccine
http://www.whale.to/v/salk6.html

Why Vaccination Continues by Gulaine Lanctot, MD (includes some history of vaccinations) http://www.whale.to/vaccines

Vaccine Magic: The Grand Finale by Dr. Len Horowitz
http://www.drlenhorowitz.com

Inducing Antibodies Does Not Produce Immunity (including an analysis by Dr. Rebecca Carley)
http://www.whale.to

Eustice Mullins: Murder by Injection chapter 4 (includes some historical information)
http://www.whale.to

Jabs Forum (a forum for scientists regarding vaccinations)
http://www.jabs.org.uk

What's in Vaccines? By Dr. Raima E. Laibow
http://www.healthfreedomusa.org

The Goal: Militarization of Public Health (contains a reference to the 1976 Swine Flu epidemic in which the mass inoculation had to be called off because of the frequency of very severe side effects)
http://www.globalresearch.ca

SV 40 in polio vaccines also discovered in subsequent cancer patients
http://www.theecologist.org

Polio, the Virus and the Vaccine
http://www.theecologist.org
Three Herbs with Powerful Health Benefits You Should Know About

Natural herbs have been used for almost as long as humankind has existed. Herbs are powerful and the right ones may treat and alleviate serious diseases. In this article you will learn about a few popular herbs and what they are used for.

#1 - Basil
Basil is a common herb that is commonly used in Italian cuisine. In Ayurvedic medicine basil has been used to treat ailments such as constipation, diabetes, diarrhea, respiratory disorders, impotence and allergies. It also aids digestion and is said to provide fast relief if you`re suffering from gas. If you`re buying dried basil, make sure that it is from a reliable manufacturer, because the quality can vary.

#2 - Chamomile
A cup of chamomile tea will sooth and relax your body. Drink some chamomile tea before you go to sleep after a hectic day, and it will calm you down. Chamomile can also be used to relieve and lessen the effect of menstrual cramps, hemorrhoids and colds and it can help wounds heal faster. There are people who are extremely allergic to chamomile. If you`ve never tried it before, make sure that you aren`t allergic. Chamomile should also be avoided during pregnancy, because it can increase the chance of abortion.

#3 - Cayenne Pepper
There are many touting cayenne peppers benefits. Some have even written books about it. But what exactly does it do? Some herbalists believe that cayenne is the most useful herb in existence. Cayenne is very high in Vitamin A and C, calcium and potassium. Cayenne aids digestion by helping your body to create hydrochloric acid, which is necessary for good digestion. Some say that cayenne has been known to stop heart attacks within 30 seconds. Cayenne can also help skin conditions and alleviate itching.

Words of Caution
It is exciting to learn about new herbs and how they can help, but before you go out and buy these herbs, make sure that you do your research. Consult with an herbalist or someone who has experience with herbs and knows how to use them. Some herbs can be very powerful and can cause adverse reactions in the wrong quantities.
Learn the Truth about Apple Cider Vinegar and Weight Loss

We've all heard the claims about achieving weight loss with the help of apple cider vinegar. Some sources imply apple cider vinegar is some kind of magical substance that burns fat, but of course most of us are bright enough to see through that facade. But the claims make you wonder: can apple cider vinegar really support weight loss? Or is it just another diet sham?

In reality, the answer to both questions is yes. Apple cider vinegar itself is not a weight loss fad. It's a traditional remedy which has been used successfully for centuries for a variety of medicinal purposes. There's no doubt in many people's minds that apple cider vinegar can be a useful tool in alternative medicine.

However, there is no evidence that apple cider vinegar is a miracle weight loss cure. In fact, as much as we would like to find the magic pill for weight loss, it's extremely doubtful anyone ever will. Having said that, apple cider vinegar's medicinal qualities may be able to support weight loss in a few different ways:
  • There have been several studies which show that apple cider vinegar helps balance blood sugar levels. This may be the result of apple cider vinegar's ability to lower the glycemic index of a meal, which prevents blood sugar spikes. This could influence weight loss, especially for people who are insulin resistant or diabetic.
  • One study indicated that taking a small amount of apple cider vinegar before mealtimes helped improve satiety levels and could prevent overeating.
  • Although apple cider vinegar is acidic, it actually helps balance the acidity in the body by helping it become more alkaline. Some experts suggest that this can support weight loss.
  • One 2006 study suggested apple cider vinegar may have properties that lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These same properties could help you lose fat weight.
  • Apple cider vinegar can fight candida. If you have candida overgrowth, you may crave more carbohydrates and sugar, which could be undermining your weight loss efforts. Eliminating candida may help you lose weight.

Aside from weight loss support, apple cider vinegar has many other health benefits. Daily apple cider vinegar intake can help with free radical damage, arthritic pain, high blood pressure, and acid reflux. It's a decent source of potassium and calcium. Apple cider vinegar also has strong anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties.

So, even if apple cider vinegar can't promise overnight weight loss, it can still support a healthy lifestyle conducive to weight loss. With all the associated health benefits and the possibility of weight loss, it certainly can't hurt to add apple cider vinegar to your daily regimen.

Tips for using apple cider vinegar:
  • Choose quality apple cider vinegar. Look for organic, unfiltered, raw apple cider vinegar with lots of "mother" in it. Pills are a second-rate source of apple cider vinegar, so stick with the liquid for the best results.
  • Start small. Try one teaspoon before meals and gradually work up to three teaspoons (or one tablespoon).
The Benefits and Uses of Gotu Kola (Brahmi)

Gotu kola is an herb native to India and Sri Lanka. It plays a key role in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, treating a myriad of conditions. Its reputation is almost mythical: gotu kola is famous for its rumored link to the long life span of elephants as well as the Chinese herbalist Li Ching Yun, who supposedly lived for an incredible 256 years.

Gotu kola's ancient reputation earned its place in modern alternative medicine and it has even been examined in a number of clinical studies. Gotu kola is often recommended by homeopathic and naturopathic doctors for patients who need more energy and mental clarity. But gotu kola has many other practical uses because of its ability to ease inflammation, improve circulation and speed healing.

Specifically, gotu kola can be used for:
Brain function. Several modern studies have shown gotu kola can be used to improve memory and mental clarity.

Hemorrhoids. By improving circulation and strengthening blood vessels, gotu kola is an effective natural hemorrhoid treatment.

Inflammatory conditions. Gotu kola has anti-inflammatory properties that can aid in the treatment of conditions like arthritis.

Skin conditions. Acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions can be treated with gotu kola because of its unique anti-inflammatory and healing properties.

Varicose and spider veins. Gotu kola improves circulation and strengthens vessel walls, making it a great herbal choice for treating and preventing vein disorders.

Water retention. Gotu kola is a very mild diuretic that can be used to treat water retention and edema.

Wounds and burns. Traditionally, gotu kola has often been used to speed the healing of wounds and minor burns.

Scars. Clinical studies have shown that gotu kola was effective for improving the appearance of unsightly scars. It is especially useful during the healing process, and can even have an impact on deep scarring.

Gotu kola can be used in a variety of ways. In traditional medicine, gotu kola was often prepared as a tea or a tincture. These can also be mixed with oil or cornstarch to apply topically for treatment of scrapes, minor burns and irritated skin. Mixed with oil, gotu kola liquid makes a very good massage medium. Today you can also buy gotu kola in supplement form, but be sure you are getting it from a quality source.
Even with its many useful applications, gotu kola should be avoided in certain cases. This herb can raise blood sugar levels, so it is not recommended for diabetics. It should also be avoided by pregnant women because of its affect on blood circulation.

For More Information:
http://www.chopra.com/gotukola
Ease Excruciating Earaches Naturally

An earache is an awful thing to experience. Everyone has experienced one at some time of his/her life. It was probably an event so traumatic, that s/he is bound to remember. An earache can be caused by a number of things. These could include infections, allergies, or even situations with your teeth. Although much more common in children, the many adults that have experienced an earache, say it was the worst pain they have ever experienced. While looking for natural remedies to help ease the pain naturally, consider these.

Use garlic. Garlic has been known to help a painful earache. Try taking two 500 mg. of natural garlic capsules a day. Do this for seven consecutive days. Or if you would rather not swallow the capsules, they may be opened and the garlic oil may be squeezed into your ear canal. Place a cotton ball inside your ear to hold the oil inside. Do this several days, both day and night. You'll soon be experiencing relief. Garlic is a natural disinfectant and will clean the bacteria from within your ear. If you would like to increase the natural properties of garlic, add mullein oil. This may be purchased from your health food store. This oil is known for its anti-inflammatory attributes and may be poured directly into the ear every three or four hours.

Use olive oil. This remedy has been around for centuries. Warm a little olive oil on a teaspoon and pour it slowly into your ear. (Test it first to make sure it is not too hot.) The warmth will feel wonderful in a throbbing ear. Place a cotton ball inside your ear to prevent the liquid from escaping. This process may be repeated every hour as necessary.

Take vitamins. Vitamins to take which help prevent and treat earaches are zinc, vitamin E, and vitamin B. Ask your natural health expert the amounts to take. Taking these supplements every day help treat earaches as well as prevent them.

Give yourself a Qigong massage. If unsure how to do this, here are the instructions. Place your middle finger in front of your ear and your index finger behind the ear. Your fingers will form a V-shape. Starting at the base of the ear, begin moving your fingers in an upward motion. Press firmly but not too hard. Release the pressure, as you move your fingers downward. Do this a repeated amount of times. Not only will this massage help increase the circulation in and around your ear, it will also allow the fluid to move more freely from the cells reducing the pain in your ear.

Use a heating pad. Placing a heating pad or hot water bottle on the side of your face will help lessen the pain, as will the use of a hair dryer. Be careful not to burn your skin.

Sometimes, you can't do anything to prevent something like an earache, but being sure you are in good health and daily doing what you can, to have a strong immune system, is wonderful for you in general. Have a diet consisting of fruits and vegetables. Sleep well. Get plenty of exercise. Take time to play. Studies have shown that people, who do all these things, have a better outlook on life and stay healthier.
Sources:
www.massageenvy.com
www.seekwellness.com
www.naturalhealers.com
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Mulberries Treat Insomnia, Arthritis, and More

Mulberry (Morus) trees are ripe with fruit all across the US right now [NOTE: it grows in Kenya too]. These tasty berries are not only delicious and nutritious, but are used in Chinese medicine to enrich the blood and yin, treating conditions such as dizziness, tinnitus, premature graying of the hair and insomnia. (1)

Mulberry trees are easy to spot - full as they are of purple, pink or white berries; the purple stains on the sidewalk below make them even more difficult to miss. They love cities, and can be found growing out of cracks in sidewalks, as well as in lush soil in parks and along rivers. There are different varieties, with berries varying from dark purple, to light purple, pink and even white.

They are delicious eaten right off the tree, but can also be added to smoothies, or made into pies (both baked and raw.)

The dark purple mulberry looks like a small blackberry but tastes much sweeter, and the seeds within are not as large as those of the blackberry. The white mulberry (Morus albus) is actually prized as an herb in Chinese medicine, yet the berry is not the only part of the tree that is used.

Four different parts of the plants are used, in four different ways. Additionally, the feces of the silkworm, whose diet is mulberry leaves, are considered two more herbs (or medicinal substances.)

The mulberry itself is called sang shen, and enriches the blood and yin. It can be used to treat dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia and premature graying of hair. In Chinese medicine, the dose is 6 to 15 grams a day, and is often used in syrup form, taking advantage of the berry's natural sweetness. It is known to contain carotenes, thiamene, riboflavin, vitamin C, tannin, linoleic acid, and stearic acid. The berries can also be used to treat constipation (when due to blood deficiency.) (2)

Mulberry leaf is called sang ye, and is used to treat fever, headache, sore throat and cough. It is also used to clear red, sore, painful eyes, both internally and externally as an eye wash. (3)

Mulberry root bark is called sang bai pi and stops coughing and wheezing, while also promoting urination to reduce enema, especially of the face. In European herbal traditions, the root bark is used as a decoction, to get rid of tapeworms. (4)

Mulberry twig is sang zhi, and helps relieve arthritis in the joints of the arms. Clinical research has also shown an immune effect from drinking an infusion of mulberry twigs: patients with reduced immune function showed an increased rate of lymphocytes (white blood cells that defend the body against disease). (5)

Even silkworms - whose sole food is mulberry leaves, are used as an "herb" (or medicinal substance) in Chinese medicine. The silkworm body is known as jiang can, and is used to extinguish wind and stop tremors, especially childhood seizures and facial paralysis.(6) Silkworm feces - or can sha - is another medicinal substance, used as a tea or poultice, to treat itchy rashes (7)

Mulberries are not commonly found at groceries stores, or even farmer's markets. They are beginning to be touted as a "super food" in some circles, however, and are sold dried, year round.

This is one delicious fruit that is great to know about, both for enjoyment and for health. Grab a good guide book or take a walk with someone who can point out these trees to you; they are certainly worth knowing about, and are only abundant with berries for 4 to 6 weeks a year.

Footnotes:

1. Bensky, p. 334
2. Bensky, p.335
3. Bensky, p.43
4. Lust, p.285
5. Bensky, p.161
6. Ibid, p. 430
7. Ibid, p.160

References:
Bensky, Dan and Gamble, Andrew. Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica. Eastland Press, Inc. Seattle, WA. 1993
Elias, Thomas and Dykeman, Peter. Edible Wild Plants. Sterling Publishing Company. New York. 1990.
Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books. New York. 1974.
Medical Madness: More Women Scared Into Double Mastectomy as Way to "Prevent" Cancer

Increasing numbers of women are choosing to have both breasts removed in order to avoid breast cancer -- but doctors warn that many of these procedures may expose women to serious risk without providing the promised benefit.

In general, two kinds of women use double mastectomy as a preemptive breast cancer treatment. One group consists of women who have been diagnosed with cancer in one breast and choose to have both breasts completely removed in order to avoid the risk of developing cancer in the healthy breast. This procedure is called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Another group, the so-called "pre-vivors," are women who have not received a cancer diagnosis at all but believe they have a high enough cancer risk to justify the measure.

Performing mastectomies as prophylaxis was uncommon just a few decades ago, but the popularity of the practice has risen sharply in recent years.

"For the past 20 years we have moved toward less invasive surgery with lumpectomy and radiation instead of total mastectomy," said surgeon Walter "Bo" Blessing of Surgical Associates in Charleston, S.C. "However, in the last three to five years, with the advent of new reconstructive techniques and breast MRI, more women are choosing mastectomy."

Most insurers will pay for either single or double mastectomy, even without a cancer diagnosis in both breasts.

According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2007, contralateral prophylactic mastectomy rates in the United States increased 150 percent between 1998 and 2003. The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn., reports a fivefold increase in the practice in recent years.

Statistics from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database reveal that it is mostly younger women choosing prophylactic mastectomies. As new diagnostic techniques continue to detect cancers earlier, the rates of preventive mastectomy are only inspected to grow.

"Women today are more educated about their risk factors, and we understand genetics better," said Valerie Gorman, a breast surgeon at Baylor Medical Center in Waxahachie, Texas, who reports increasing numbers of women coming to her for preventive mastectomies. "Plus, genetic testing is easier than in the past, and plastic surgery reconstructive procedures are more accessible."

The genetic tests that Gorman references screen mostly for mutations in the tumor-suppressing BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes; having a mutation in either gene can increase a woman's breast cancer risk by 80 percent. In other words, an otherwise healthy woman with such a mutation would have a breast cancer risk of 22 percent, rather than the average of 12.5 percent. Bilateral mastectomy can cut this risk by about 90 percent -- bringing it, in the case of the "average" woman cited above, to about 2 percent.

In the case of "pre-vivors," the presence of these mutations alone may be enough to convince some women to choose double mastectomy. Women with a cancer diagnosis in one breast may also choose mastectomy if they have genetic or other risk factors, or if they are concerned about the elevated risk that comes from already having had cancer once. "Most of my patients that proceed with bilateral mastectomy tell me that they did not want to have to worry about further monitoring of the opposite breast," said surgeon Gretchen A. Meyer.
Medical Disclaimer: The information contained within does not take the place of medical diagnosis or prescription. See your health care provider in case of sickness.

Editorial Disclaimer: Publication of these articles are to promote food for thought. The opinions expressed in these articles may not be the opinion of editors.