there’s a new study in the journal of the american medical association about the effects of hormone replacement therapy, which shows an increase in women being diagnosed with breast cancer. i found out about this study from the sf gate. i got into an argument with somebody on the site who said this:

Soy will not cause breast cancer. A vegan diet will literally stop cancers unless of course it is started too late (as in you already got cancer and just don’t know it). It is a pity that so few people actually believe this.

of course i fed the troll. how could i not? i’m vegan. i had breast cancer. i don’t blame my love of soy products for my breast cancer. i blame the BRCA1 mutation i inherited from my mom (who inherited it from hers). am i bitter that i got cancer despite my diet? no. i think the reason i called that person stupid (which wasn’t bright on my part) was because i’m tired of people spewing uninformed pseudo-science which just muddies the waters for women who should be as informed as possible. at the end of the day, every body has to make the decision about their lives that they feel best about, but it’s painful to see people make decisions based upon myths and false hope. i’ve seen women not go for the recommended treatment because they wanted something less invasive and they died. i can totally understand why somebody doesn’t want to go through chemo, but in some cases that’s the best chance they have for survival and rejecting it is almost certainly a death sentence. i can’t help but be angry about that. if i ever met somebody who seriously thought they could safely be cancer free because they’re vegan, i can’t help but be angry because it seems like they’re creating a potential nightmare for themselves. i know i can’t get too upset, because if people want to live their life that way, that is their choice.

the commenter also said to me:

Maybe you have cancer maybe you don’t. Maybe your a vegan and maybe your not. Calling me stupid for stating my beliefs doesn’t give you much credibility with me.

which makes me think they’re even more idiotic than before, because i seriously don’t think that veganism’s link to cancer is really something you can believe in. i mean, somebody can, but then there’s also an element that can be measured by science, and until there’s definitive and conclusive proof, it’s to be determined. so my questioning their “belief” seems extra silly to me. it’s not like i said there was no god, no yeti, or that homeopathic medicine is fake, i just used myself as anecdotal evidence to refute their “belief”.

and back to the study- this is really nothing new. it’s just more data that supports the theory that hormones can trigger breast cancer in women. it’s why i’ve always been leery of hormonal birth control (despite the fact that many of my doctors seemed to brush off my concerns). i knew i was more or less a ticking bomb waiting to find a lump. i know i’ll need to watch out for that for the rest of my life, but i also know that what’s good for me isn’t the same for every other woman. education and access to information is key. (of course i’d say that, i’m a librarian (sort of).)

Technorati Tags: breast cancer, hormone replacement therapy, veganism