For the average man, voluminous breasts
are a turn-on. That men drool over breasts is an open secret; and in
these days of half-nude dressing styles that tend to favour the baring
of the bosom, things can only get as far as people want.
Some women, too, knowing the wonders
that largish breasts can do to men, go all out to put them on display.
No wonder that men even lament that they are being sexually frustrated
by these unguarded exposures.
But beyond the social implications of
possessing killer breasts, there are health downsides that should be of
concern to any woman who has ample mammary glands. Without meaning to
raise the alarm, experts are warning that there are some breast sizes
that you can’t possess and simply carry on as if the whole world could
wait.
Cancer risk
Of course, every woman has the
responsibility of caring for her breasts, especially after hitting the
magical age 40. But much more, those who have sizeable breasts —
medically referred to as macromastia — must do more. This is because
researchers warn that women with hefty breasts are at an increased risk
of advanced breast cancer.
A research presented at the
International Seminars in Surgical Oncology note that “It is
hypothesised that women with large breasts are more likely to have node
positive disease mainly attributable to their breast size.”
The researchers, led by Chaminda
Sellahewa of the Department of Surgery, Russells Hall Hospital in the
United Kingdom, say a study of 120 women for primary breast cancers in a
large Teaching Hospital within a one-year period reveals that “big
breasted women (those patients with mastectomy weight greater than 800g)
had a significantly greater tumour size than those with smaller
breasts.”
The scientists lament that women with
large breasts have more advanced stage of disease at presentation,
noting that “the larger breasts of obese women may make it difficult to
detect early disease by palpation (medical examination by touching).”
They also suggest that “women with large
breasts may develop lymph node metastasis at a smaller size of primary
breast cancer than those with smaller breast because of altered host
responses.”
In simple terms, physicians say, what
this translates into is that cancer can start from the lymph nodes and
spread to other parts of the body — including the breasts.
Type 2 diabetes risk
In a study entitled ‘Breast size and
risk of Type-2 diabetes mellitus’ published in the Canadian Medical
Association Journal, researchers assessed the prospective risk of
developing Type-2 diabetes according to bra cup size among a sample of
over 92,000 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II.
The average age of the women at the
start of the study was 38 years. During the 10-year follow up, a total
of 1,844 women developed Type-2 diabetes.
After taking into consideration numerous
established risk factors such as physical activity, smoking, diet,
family history of diabetes, body mass index and waist circumference,
among others, it was shown that in a graded fashion, the bigger the bra
cup size, the greater the risk of developing diabetes.
Exposure to pollution
The online portal, medicaldaily.com, reports that when a woman has large breasts, she’s at a greater risk of pollution exposure.
It warns, “Bigger breasts also put women
at a greater exposure for pollutants because the body stores toxic
chemicals in fatty tissue. Therefore, the bigger the cup size, the
greater concentration of fatty tissue to store chemicals like mercury
and Polychlorinated biphenyls” — an oily, odourless and tasteless
industrial chemical used in pesticides and paint.
Worse still, scientists warn that PCBs
have been shown to both inhibit and mimic estradiol — the predominant
sex hormone present in females; and research has revealed that the
imitation of the estrogen compound supports the development of
estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells, uterine and cervical cancer
cells.
Poisoned breast milk
It’s not the large-breasted woman alone
that suffers the consequences of chemical deposit; if she’s a nursing
mother, her baby will be affected.
The experts at Medical Daily enthuse,
“To make matters worse, the more these chemicals are stored in the
breast tissue, the more likely they are to be transferred into a woman’s
breast milk and passed along to her newborn children.”
To drive home this point, a writer,
Florence Williams, in her book entitled, Breasts: A Natural and
Unnatural History, bemoans, “What happens in our environment is
reflected in our breasts. Breast-feeding is a very efficient way to
transfer our society’s industrial flotsam to the next generation. Our
breasts soak up pollution. Breasts carry the burden of the mistakes we
have made.”
In general, the experts express concern
that many man-made toxins “will remain in our bodies and in our
children’s bodies for long enough, such that today’s baby girls will
transmit the toxins to their own children.”
Back pain
Physicians say all women will complain
of backaches at some point in their lives. However, for those with big
breasts, it is tantamount to hulking a heavy backpack all over the
place. At least that’s the testimony of heavily endowed Nollywood
actress, Cossy Orjiakor, in an interview with this newspaper.
Experts agree with this confession,
saying those who have disproportionately large breasts often experience
chronic or long-lasting pain that affects their quality of life. The
suspected culprit here is the use of ill-fitting bra.
“Ill-fitting bras do not support breasts
properly, leading to shoulder grooves, which in turn leads to neck
pain, which can bring on headaches and migraines. It’s a vicious cycle
of painful health problems,” online portal, Medline Plus, says.
Skin irritation
Dermatologists say a woman with large,
pendulous breasts can experience yeast infection, skin rashes and skin
irritation under the breasts because the area is almost always wet. The
situation is worse during a warm, humid weather, experts say.
Culled From Punchng