This week I am taking a look at how Breast Cancer has affected women all over the world and what the global factors are for the increasingly raising rates of the dis-ease over the coming years. My team and I have coached women in over 21 countries over the last 4.5 years. Whether a woman is from Africa, Australia, Malaysia or Sweden, they all face the same issues about healing their body. Sadly the statistics are increasing and causing a serious concern for women around the globe. 

Breast Cancer Global Statistics

A 2016 report released by the American Cancer Society at the World Cancer Congress in Paris this fall estimated that 5.5 million women worldwide will succumb to cancer yearly by 2030, a 60 percent increase in less than two decades.   Here are some other global facts that may surprise you:

– 2012 statistics say that the “Top 20” countries for Breast Cancer were all industrialized regions (Belgium has the highest rate of Breast Cancer in Europe with Denmark and France not far behind);

-The highest incidence of Breast Cancer overall is in North America and Oceania (Micronesia, Fiji, and the Polynesian area);

-The lowest rates of Breast Cancer occur in Asia and Africa;

-Regular alcohol consumption remains the most prevalent determining factor for Breast Cancer diagnosis worldwide.  As I have talked about in other blogs, statistics show that the higher the number of drinks per day, the higher your risk of Breast Cancer. Regular beer drinkers may have an even higher risk.

 

Asian Women: The Case against the Standard American Diet (SAD) and Lifestyle

Most of us think of Asian women as having lower rates of Breast Cancer overall. It is true that dietary and

other factors have kept Breast Cancer low in most Asian countries. However, what is not as well-known is what happens to Asian women once they immigrate to either Europe or the United States.

A study conducted by the University of Southern California investigated the rates of Breast Cancer in US-born Filipina and Chinese women. It found that invasive Breast Cancer rates were approximately 30% and 80% higher for these women than in women who lived in their home country.

The only exception was seen in Japan. Breast Cancer rates in that country remained on-par with the United States. Researchers studying this phenomenon speculate that the high number of Japanese Breast Cancer sufferers has to do with stressful lifestyles as well as poor dietary choices that began during World War II, when women began working outside of the home as part of the war effort. 

Breast Cancer Rates in Young Women Worldwide Continue to Soar

Sadly, the American Cancer Society study also claimed that most of the rise in breast, as well as cervical, lung and colorectal, cancers worldwide in the years to come will be amongst middle aged and young women.

Of course, this trend is nothing new. Exposure to household toxins, stressful lifestyles, diet, birth control use, the consumption of personal products and unprotected extensive use of cellphones are all factors that affect young women (and especially young moms) on the go.

Even though the World Cancer Research Fund states that Breast Cancer continues to be the #1 cancer-related death in women overall, researchers across the board continue to reiterate that Breast Cancer, like most cancers, is highly preventable with lifestyle and dietary changes. Remember that only a small percentage of Breast Cancer cases are caused by genetics. We are now are in the “age of epigenetics.”  Research is proving that even genetic expression can be altered by what you put in your body and even how you think!

It is my hope that YOU take the time to consider your right to empower yourself when it comes to your health. Choose a healthy breast lifestyle, and you CAN lead a vibrant and cancer-free life!