The Emotions Behind Breast Cancer

Since the mid-2000s, breast cancer has increased by roughly 0.5% per year. Traditional contributing factors for both men and women include aging, extreme weight gain, obesity, lack of exercise, hormone therapy for peri-menopausal/menopause, family history, smoking, and use of hormonal contraceptives. Recently, however, evidence has shown that lifestyle, emotions, and social factors can all play a role in the development of breast cancer.

While emotions help us feel the ups and downs of life, they also cause chemical changes in our bodies, behaviors, and thoughts. In Chinese medicine, there are seven negative emotions; fear, fright, sadness/grief, over-excitement, anger, worry, and anxiety. The seven emotions significantly affect longevity and immunity. Our immunity and hormones become involved if they are over-stimulated for long periods. We then see the disrupted balance of Yin and Yang, our functional equilibrium, causing a predisposition to illness. 

Depression, anxiety, and stress can all contribute to the onset of breast cancer development. Once diagnosed, if not managed well, it may increase its reoccurrence. These negative emotions create inflammatory responses in the body that inhibit DNA and cellular repair, decrease immunity and allow free radicals to damage cells or lead to cancer cells growing or recurring. These cells may stimulate the hormone estrogen to increase. Estrogen Receptor Positive breast cancer is fueled by excess estrogen. 

Chinese Medicine modalities include acupuncture, herbal and nutritional therapies such as qi gong, tai chi, and guided meditation. Research has proven these to modulate brain activity and nervous system function, favorably affecting negative emotions and balancing hormones, such as estrogen dominance. 

At the Tao of Wellness, our team of doctors is here to support and facilitate the release of these negative emotions through the balancing actions of acupuncture, personalized herbal formulations, and nutrition, along with bodywork, meditation, and qi gong/tai chi. 

Our doctors also encourage using natural supplements, such as Calm and Estro-DIM. Our Calm supplement contains seeds from the Chinese jujube date, which are known to help the body and mind relax. Another ingredient, Wild Yam, also helps soothe nerves and the spirit. Estro-DIM is a formula that features broccoli extract and black pepper that research has shown may help maintain healthy estrogen levels and support a balanced hormone system. Both are free from gluten, caffeine, and animal products and are available here. 

We invite you to reach out for yourself or someone you care for so that our team can create a personalized treatment plan for both in-office and online telemedicine visits.