Written by Dr. Sandra Miranda, ND

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.   Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer in women in Canada.   On average, 62 Canadian women are diagnosed and 14 Canadian women die with breast cancer every day. 

Many of these cancers are estrogen positive. It is always scary and surprising to get a diagnosis of breast cancer during menopause when it is a time in our lives when we are usually deficient in estrogen.  So why does this happen?  This happens because you may not be breaking down the estrogens that you still have in your body properly creating harmful byproducts also known as “metabolites”.

Estrogens are broken down in the liver into “metabolites”. Some metabolites are healthy and protective to our health and others are not.  The latter ones are stronger byproducts and can be very dangerous.  They stimulate the growth of hormone dependent cancers. Too much of the wrong type of estrogen byproduct will increase your risk of not only breast cancer but also other hormone related diseases such as uterine cancer, cervical dysplasia, and even prostate cancer in men.

There is a simple way of measuring the levels of the good and bad estrogens metabolites by doing a urine test.  This test is a called DUTCH urine test.

This test is beneficial to all women but especially important if you have a family history of breast cancer or a personal history of hormone use such as infertility medication, birth control pill and conventional hormone replacement therapy.

Breast cancer is a lot easier to prevent than to treat!

Call us if you would like to get more information – we are happy to help! 905-239-3900.