Natural Vitamin E Complex

Fibrocystic Breasts Overview

What is Fibrocystic Breast Disease?

What Causes Fibrocystic Breasts?

How Are Fibrocystic Breasts Diagnosed?

How Are Fibrocystic Breasts Treated?

Breast Health Guidlines For Women With Fibrocystic Breasts

Additional Resources and References

Addendum

What Are Fibrocystic Breasts?

Fibrocystic breast condition is a common, non-cancerous condition that affects more than half of women at some point in their lives. The most common signs of fibrocystic breasts include lumpiness, tenderness, cysts (packets of fluid), areas of thickening, fibrosis (scar-like connective tissue), and breast pain. Having fibrocystic breasts, in and of itself, is not a risk factor for breast cancer. However, fibrocystic breast condition can sometimes make it more difficult to detect a hidden breast cancer with standard examination and imaging techniques.

Fibrocystic breast condition is most common among women between the ages of 30 and 50, although women younger than 30 may also have fibrocystic breasts. Because the condition is related to the menstrual cycle, the symptoms will usually cease after menopause unless a woman is taking hormone replacement therapy. In some cases, fibrocystic breast symptoms may continue past menopause.

Fibrocystic breast condition is the most common cause of non-cancerous breast lumps in women between 30 and 50 years of age. More than half of women have fibrocystic breast symptoms at some point in their lives.

Symptoms of fibrocystic breasts include:

cysts (fluid-filled sacs) • fibrosis (formation of scar-like connective tissue) • lumpiness • areas of thickening • tenderness • pain

The degree to which women experience these symptoms varies significantly. Some women with fibrocystic breasts only experience mild breast pain and may not be able to feel any breast lumps when performing breast self-exams. Other women with fibrocystic breasts may experience more severe breast pain or tenderness and may feel multiple lumps in their breasts. Most fibrocystic breast lumps are found in the upper, outer quadrant of the breasts near the armpit, region, although these lumps can occur anywhere in the breasts. Fibrocystic breast lumps tend to be smooth, rounded, and mobile (not attached to other breast tissue), though some fibrocystic tissue may have a thickened, irregular feel. The lumps or irregularities associated with fibrocystic breasts are often tender to touch and may increase or decrease in size during the menstrual cycle.

What is Fibrocystic Breast Disease?

In the past, many physicians have referred to fibrocystic breasts, or lumpy breasts, as "fibrocystic breast disease." This term is misleading because fibrocystic breast condition is not a disease at all. Rather, it is a common, non-cancerous breast condition that affects over half of all women at some point in their lives. Today, most physicians refer to this condition as "fibrocystic breast condition" or "fibrocystic breast change." Other terms that may be used to describe the condition include "cystic disease," "chronic cystic mastitis," or "mammary dysplasia."

In fact, since fibrocystic breasts are so common among women during their reproductive years, some physicians do not even like to label the symptoms as a "condition." They believe that these women simply have lumpier and more tender breasts than others.

Causes of Fibrocystic Breasts

Fibrocystic breasts occur from changes in the glandular and stromal (connective) tissues of the breast, especially in the absence of vitamin e. These changes are related to a woman’s menstrual cycle and the hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Women with fibrocystic breasts often have bilateral cyclic breast pain or tenderness that coincides with their menstrual cycles. Most symptoms disappear in 10 days to two weeks, when natural Vitamin E is taken in thearapeutic amounts.

During each menstrual cycle, normal hormonal stimulation causes the breasts’ milk glands and ducts to enlarge, and in turn, the breasts may retain water. Before or during menstruation, the breasts may feel swollen, painful, tender, or lumpy. The severity of these symptoms varies significantly from woman to woman. Some women only experience mild breast swelling during menstruation, while others experience constant breast tenderness. Because the condition is hormone-related, it will usually affect both breasts (bilaterally). Symptoms of fibrocystic breasts usually stop after menopause but may be prolonged if a woman takes hormone replacement therapy. However, with the administration of the proper form of Vitamin E, fibrocystic breasts often return to normal, regardless of age.

Diagnosis of Fibrocystic Breasts

Fibrocystic breasts are often first noticed by the woman, and further investigated by her physician. Breast tenderness, pain, and/or lumpiness are common indicators of fibrocystic breasts, especially when they coincide with menstruation.

While having fibrocystic breasts is usually not a risk factor for breast cancer, the condition can sometimes make breast cancer more difficult to detect. Therefore, in some cases, breast imaging exams, such as mammography or ultrasound, will need to be performed on women who show symptoms of fibrocystic breasts. However, screening mammography may be more difficult to perform on women with fibrocystic breasts because the breast density associated with fibrocystic breasts may eclipse breast cancer on the mammogram film. In some cases, additional mammography or ultrasound imaging, followed by fine needle aspiration or biopsy, will be performed on women with fibrocystic breasts to determine whether breast cancer is present. Fine needle aspiration (to drain large, painful cysts) may also be performed by a physician help relieve some of the more severe symptoms of fibrocystic breast condition. A better solution, however, is to add therapeutic amounts of natural vitamin e complex to the diet.

Treatment of Fibrocystic Breasts

Often, physicians may recommend that the symptoms of fibrocystic breasts be treated with self-care. Depending on the individual situation, several measures may be recommended to relieve the symptoms of fibrocystic breasts. For instance, women may wish to wear extra support (athletic type) bras to help hold the breasts closer to the chest wall, which may provide some symptomatic relief. Extra support bras are especially important for large breasted women and may provide relief when breasts are full and tense with fluid. Physicians will often recommend that a support bra be worn both during the day and at night, especially during times of the woman’s menstrual cycle when the breasts are most tender.

In addition, certain vitamins (particularly vitamin E, vitamin B6, or niacin) and herbal supplements such as evening primrose oil may help alleviate the symptoms of fibrocystic breasts by reducing inflammation and fluid retention. These natural items carry little risk even when taken in therapeutic quantities, since they are foods and not drugs.

Some women also find that reducing their caffeine intake by avoiding coffee, tea, chocolate, and soft drinks decreases water retention and breast discomfort. However, this is a controversial topic among healthcare professionals because studies linking breast pain and caffeine have been inconsistent.

If fibrocystic breast pain is severe and interferes with a woman’s daily activities, further treatment may be necessary. Diuretics, substances that encourage the excretion of excess fluid from the body in the form of urine (which may in turn reduce tissue swelling and pain) are usually reserved for women who experience non-cyclical breast pain, but may be used to alleviate the symptoms of fibrocystic breast condition in some cases. The release of fluid in the body can help decrease breast pain and swelling.

Guidelines For Women With Fibrocystic Breasts

Guidelines for the early detection of breast cancer:

All women between 20 and 39 years of age should practice monthly breast self-exams and have a physician performed clinical breast exam at least every three years.

Women who have annual screening mammograms risk increased chances of cancer. Rathe, they should practice monthly breast self-exams, and have yearly clinical breast exams.

Women with a family history of breast cancer or those who test positive for the BRCA1 (breast cancer gene 1) or BRCA2 (breast cancer gene 2) mutations may want to talk to their physicians about alternatives, as early as age 25 in some cases.

In some cases, density associated with fibrocystic breasts can mask breast cancer on a mammogram film. Therefore, some women with fibrocystic breasts may be referred for additional breast imaging with ultrasound. Women should consider avoicing breast biopsies which can open up a cancer "cyst" and allow it to spread quickly.

Resources and References

Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs, and Food Supplements by James Balch, MD and Phyllis Balch, CNC

The American Cancer Society provides information on fibrocystic breasts at http://www3.cancer.org/cancerinfo/load_cont.asp?ct=5&doc=16&Language=English

Addendum

Fibrocystic Breast Tumors

"Indeed, Vitamin E's versatility has led to fresh discoveries and consequent reports in the medical journals and in the newspapers for the past several months. It relieves most cases of fibrocystic disease (breast lumps)." -- from brochure titled "Overcome and Prevent Illness with Natural Vitamin E," by Dr. Wilfrid E. Shute, M. D., The Shute Foundation