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Can Wearing a Bra Cause Breast Cancer?
There are several persistent myths about things that cause breast cancer. One of the most common is that wearing a bra - or wearing an underwire bra - causes the disease.
It is not clear how the story about bras causing breast cancer got started. One piece of "evidence" that is often mentioned is the fact that breast cancer is more common in Western cultures - where women started wearing bras in the 1920's - than in parts of the world where bras are not typically worn. While it is true that there are geographic variations in breast cancer rates, there are many, many factors - including diet, exercise, lifestyle, childbearing practices, and others - that are more plausible explanations for these differences than bras. In places where people have less access to medical care, breast cancer will not be diagnosed as often, even though it might be present. And because the risk of breast cancer increases as women get older, breast cancer rates will be lower in parts of the world where people die of other causes at younger ages, whether they have worn bras or not.
The bottom line: well-designed studies have not convinced breast
cancer experts that wearing bras causes the disease. Here are
some factors that are associated with increased risk
of breast cancer:
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Sex: Women are much more likely to get breast cancer than
men.
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Age: the chances of getting breast cancer increase with
age, especially after 65.
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Race: After age 35, White women are more likely to get breast
cancer than Black women, but Black women who get breast cancer
are more likely to die from it.
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Family history: certain inherited genetic mutations (BRCA1
and/or BRCA2) increase the risk. Even without those genes, having
a grandmother, mother, sister, or daughter diagnosed with breast
or ovarian cancer also increases the risk.
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A woman who has previously had breast, ovarian, endometrial,
or colon cancer is more likely to get breast cancer.
- A woman who has had LCIS or certain other breast conditions
such as atypical hyperplasia is more likely to get breast cancer.
- High levels of radiation to the chest area (for treatment of
lymphoma, for example) can increase the risk.
- High bone density levels after menopause can increase the risk.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding history: never having children,
having a first pregnancy after age 30, and never breastfeeding
each increases the risk.
- Menstrual history: Beginning menstruation at age 12 or younger,
and/or having menopause after age 55 increases the risk of breast
cancer.
- Postmenopausal obesity increases the risk.
- History of hormone use, including contraceptives and menopausal
hormone replacement increases the risk.
- Alcohol consumption: women who drink an average of only 1 alcoholic
drink per day increase their risk of breast cancer by approximately
7%.
- Physical inactivity increases risk.
- Exposure to tobacco smoke increases breast cancer risk.
If you are worried about your risk of breast cancer, you should discuss your concerns with a health care professional. Knowing the real risk factors and making healthy lifestyle choices can help you reduce your risks. Going braless won't.
Source for breast cancer risk factors:
Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2005-2006. American Cancer
Society, Atlanta, GA.
To separate
fact from fiction on other Internet Health info, click here.
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