The Big C…are Mammograms Hurting or Helping and What About HRT? with Dr. Jenn Simmons
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Hey! It is Natalie Jill! Today on Midlife Conversations we dive into the critical topics of breast cancer detection, prevention, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with Dr. Jen Simmons, who has 17 years of experience as Philadelphia’s TOP breast surgeon . We address common misconceptions about HRT’s role in breast cancer recurrence and prevention, discuss the evolving landscape of breast cancer screening, including the limitations of mammograms and the potential of new imaging technologies, and explore actionable steps for maintaining health post-breast cancer diagnosis. Dr. Simmons emphasizes the importance of being informed, understanding the impact of environmental factors on breast cancer, and the integral role of ongoing self-examination and self-care.
Does HRT Increase Your Odds of Getting Breast Cancer?
This is a super popular and commonly asked question when it comes to HRT. The benefits you can feel from HRT are pretty well-known by those who were symptomatic and decided to take them. On the other hand, those who perhaps didn’t suffer from symptoms of unbalanced hormones, lean more towards “If I’m not suffering, and I have an increased risk of breast cancers from taking them, why even bother?”
But the truth is: EVEN for the people who are asymptomatic during menopause, you are still undergoing cognitive decline, cardiovascular decline, and significant bone loss. These three things will definitely shorten your life. Symptomatic OR NOT, you should be considering HRT.
If you are NOT considering it because of the idea that it “causes cancer”, Dr. Jenn Simmons can tell you with 100% certainty that when we look at ALL of the data across the playing field, that there is NO increased risk of breast cancer or cardiovascular disease with HRT. This was even published in a retraction paper in 2017 dismantling the skewed results from the Women’s Health Initiative.
Even more, the HRT they were referring to wasn’t even bioidentical! Bioidentical is even LESS likely. In fact, women who are ON replacement therapies have a DECREASED risk of both the initial incident of breast cancer AND if you do get breast cancer you do better AND if you have breast cancer and go on hormone replacement, you have a decreased risk of occurrence.
Does Estrogen Cause Breast Cancer?
If you believe that estrogen causes breast cancer, then you also have to believe that women were put on this earth TO get breast cancer. Estrogen is a hormone of life. When you stop making it, that’s actually when we undergo accelerated cellular degenerative disease and truly start to die.
In measuring hormone levels in a woman who is postmenopausal – estrogen is often barely detectable. So IF estrogen causes breast cancer, why do we see it more often in our estrogen rich states – like pregnant women and instead we see it MORE often post menopause when the estrogen levels are significantly lower?
So Why Does My Doctor Insist on Saying HRT is Bad?
In 2002 when the Women’s Health Initiative was released, generations of doctors ONLY heard that. That bell was never unrung for them. So for decades, doctors have only practice in that space of fear and skewed knowledge. We have heard from the primary investigators during this study that one of the purposes was to end the train of hormone replacement. There were 18 million women on it and overnight, 80% of prescribers stopped prescribing. Unfortunately the way that the medical machine works right now is all about profit. They just want to prescribe things that keep you needing to be prescribed MORE things for the damage they cause (like oxycontin and antidepressants – ugh)…and HRT doesn’t do that!
What Types of Estrogen Are Best?
Estrogen is best prescribed alongside progesterone because they work in unison with one another and provide a balance. Oftentimes someone will be on just estrogen and claim that it’s not helping – but it’s because you do not have the balance of progesterone, too. This being said, it’s also important to balance estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. If you are still not getting relief, perhaps you have an absorption issue and need to try a different method.
It’s important to know that estrogen should never be given orally because any “risk” that might be associated with estrogen (like inflammation, coagulation, etc.), is from the oral versions (not to mention the tax it adds to your liver). On the other hand, we do NOT see these inflammatory markers increase with patches or creams.
Is It Too Late to Start HRT?
There is data that shows that there is NO real point in someone’s life where they will not benefit from HRT. They just need to be approached with caution and someone who is a hormone literate provider. They need to know what it is they are working with and making sure the rest of the healthy lifestyle boxes are checked, like diet, environment, sleep, etc. If everything is in place, and there is still struggle, a bioidentical hormone replacement given by someone who knows what they are doing and who continues to test and monitor that you are in safe ranges, it is okay.
Are Mammograms Dangerous? Do Mammograms Cause Cancer?
The people that are helped by mammograms are very few and far between. The mammographic screening process started in the 1970s started with the best intentions. They believed that breast cancer growth was both linear and predictable to which if you caught it before it got to a size and stage. But this just doesn’t happen to be true. Breast cancer is neither linear or predictable and they are what they are from the very beginning.
When we look at the populations who screen and the populations who don’t screen, both with equal access to the same care, the population that screened and did not screen died at the same rate from breast cancer. The major difference between them, is the screened group got treated for a lot more breast cancers unnecessarily because they were cancers that were picked up on screen that never needed to be treated (cases that were subclinical).
There are 40,000 women in the United States who are diagnosed every year with DCIS (cells which have undergone some transformation but are contained within the ducts of the breast) which is NOT a breast cancer yet gets treated like invasive breast cancer. When we treat women with our current conventional cancer treatments, we shorten the duration and quality of their lives. A woman who gets treated for breast cancer, invasive or not, has 2-3 times the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease than someone who was not treated.
No matter how many mammograms we do a year, the exact same number of women will die. Mammograms are not saving lives or changing outcomes. If it were not saving lives but was saving breasts, it would still make sense. But it doesn’t.
Mammograms are actually CAUSING cancer via radiating women every year. Some women would have never gotten cancer but for the fact that they are getting mammograms. Not to say that your first mammogram won’t find cancer, but the more mammograms you get, the higher your risk of getting cancer – especially the dense breast girls who get exposed to 10x the amount of radiation.
What Is the Best Method for Checking Your Breasts?
Every woman should know what their breasts should feel and look like so that if there is a change, they are able to perceive the change. If you find something, that should be investigated because it has clinical evidence. At that point, it doesn’t matter which route you go. The risk/benefit ratio of getting a mammogram makes sense at that point.
For those who feel like they need to do MORE than self screening, screening ultrasounds are great…although screening ultrasounds are typically not paid by insurance (going back to the profits only model of the big insurance companies here). Insurance, however, should NOT dictate our health maintenance.
Thermography is also a great tool for some things, especially in prevention…but NOT for screening actual cancer. It can find a heat signal that is associated with inflammation. But not all breast cancers will create an inflammatory response. Thermography can help signal red flags ahead of time to indicate that there is work to do to turn things around.
There is a new FDA-cleared breast screening imaging method that is pain free, radiation free, no compression, and has 40 times the resolution of an MRI called QT Imaging! Dr. Jess Simmons is entering the first center on the East Coast called Perfeqtion Imaging that has this, and the West Coast (California and Arizona) already has these. These WILL replace mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRI’s. QT imaging is all self referred – you only need the desire and ability to go. The results are read by a board-certified radiologist that has specialty training in breast imaging AND in the QT images.
This and SO much more on this episode!
About Dr. Jenn Simmons
Dr. Jenn Simmons started her professional career as Philadelphia’s first fellowship trained breast surgeon and spent 17 years as Philadelphia’s top breast surgeon. Her own illness led her to discover functional medicine. So enamored with the concept of creating health rather than killing disease, she left traditional medicine in 2019 and founded Real Health MD to help women along their breast cancer journey truly heal. Dr. Jenn is on a mission to change the impact of breast cancer by empowering millions of women to take control of their health and create the life they want. She hostsher weekly podcast, Keeping Abreast with Dr. Jenn, hosted the Breast Cancer Breakthroughs Summit, is the author ofThe Smart Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer, and Recipes for Real Health. Dr. Jenn is currently opening PerfeQTion Imaging centers across the country featuring QT Imaging, an innovative technology that uses sound waves to create a 3D reconstruction of the breast without pain, compression, or radiation. This fast affordable FDA approved technology has 40x the resolution of MRI and will forever change the way that we screen for breast cancer.
Learn more about Dr. Jenn Simmons at:
Dr. Jenn Simmons IG: www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons
Dr. Jenn Simmons Website: www.realhealthmd.com
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