(Warning: the following paragraphs contain opinions without sugar-coating)Every spring, thousands of runners line up for the gun at Races for the Cure around the country. Thousands more walk or run around tracks in the Relay for Life series. Pink paraphernalia blossom everywhere--car magnets, bracelets, golf club head covers, travel mugs, and even upscale attire. Tonight's news program featured a model hawking a $120 bathing suit for breast cancer and donating a whopping 10% of the proceeds. (I'll curb my desire to rant on this and voice my opinion another day!)

The first of October heralds Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the "think pink" trend is fashionable again. With the lifetime incidence of cancer at 1 in 8, everyone knows someone who has had breast cancer, received treatment for it, or passed away from it.  Breast cancer memorials and honors abound.

Honoring loved ones and celebrating survivors feels rewarding temporarily, but soon the feeling wears off.   In terminal cases, the hope and fighting spirit can spiral down into despair.  I lost my mother to breast cancer, and if it were not for her, I might not be here to write this blog.  I believe that I honor her best in the long term by taking meaningful action that will help many women and their families over time.

Thanks to the success of so many cancer awareness initiatives, the need for awareness  has declined dramatically in the past few years.  Today, only a hermit without Internet access would be unaware of the breast cancer issue in the U.S.  Now, exactly what is the awareness that we're supposed to increase?  Over the past year, the focus has been on early detection, a lucrative but poor choice.

I am a survivor of chemotherapy, radiation, and bi-lateral mastectomy, as I like to say. These can often prove deadlier than cancer. I was diagnosed with Stage III lobular carcinoma of the right breast in 2002, after many regular mammograms, "doing all the right things" except for sleep deprivation, and believing I had  beaten the odds after my mother succumbed to the disease. Today I am healthier than ever. My mother was not so fortunate: after a second diagnosis of cancer around her 48th birthday, she bravely endured the accelerating disease of terminal cancer for 9 very long years.

The long-term survival statistics for breast cancer, despite decades and billions of research dollars and years of "races for the cure," are still not very encouraging. While the official word is that deaths from breast cancer are declining, the reality is very different: since chemo damages the immune system, breast cancer patients often have a diagnosis of a second cancer, not just a recurrence or metastasis of breast cancer. It's that second cancer that the medical authorities associate with the patient's demise, not the breast cancer treatment that destroyed their immune system in the first place.  These cases should be counted as the real toll of breast cancer.

After my treatment, recovery and experience of health regained, I can speak with no small amount of authority. We can do much about breast cancer, but the conventional thinking about it is misguided and detrimental to cancer patients and their families.

Example: Last fall, Laura Bush was interviewed at the White House after lighting it pink (outdoors, no less) in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. While I admire her willingness to speak out for causes, I was dismayed with her message: get a mammogram and get every woman you love to have one, too. She emphasized ONLY the value of early detection. The problem is that mammography is radiation, which recent studies are showing contributes to cancer. Newer practitioners are very concerned about radiation exposure.

Not only that, but many women like me (or the former me!) have dense breast tissue and mammography often doesn't reveal tumors in such tissue. Furthermore, certain forms of cancer, such as lobular--about 15% of cases, mine included-- are impossible to detect early because they do not form well-defined tumors until the later stages. Mammography can give women a false sense of security that they can continue unhealthy lifestyles and not have to be concerned about breast cancer. That is, until it's too late.

Prevention, not frequent mammography, should be the emphasis. And for those who have been treated, rebuilding the immune system should be a life-long pursuit.

I've been reading research since before I was diagnosed in 2002, and I want to pass along to you and your loved ones what I have learned.  I've developed this commentary and research-based strategy, as a way of thanking everyone who has ever helped a loved-one through cancer or memorialized them after a heart-wrenching loss. This information is a gift that you may send to anyone who needs it.  I speak from both scientific knowledge and first-hand experience.

1. You can take meaningful steps to avoid breast cancer, and every woman can do them:

• Get plenty of sleep (easier said than done!). Studies show that this is a risk factor for breast cancer. The body and the immune system need daily recovery and repair.
• Get plenty of sunshine and Vitamin D. Studies show that Vitamin D, as much as 5,000 units daily, is needed for proper immune function. The RDA of 400 units is woefully inadequate.
• Support your liver. Studies show an increased risk of breast cancer after long-term alcohol consumption. What they aren't telling you is how medications, such as seemingly harmless Tylenol®, can damage it. You can protect and restore your liver with a number of herbs, and by limiting medications and alcohol.
• Maintain a normal body weight.
• Exercise. Cardio exercise in at least moderation (but not over-training) stimulates the immune system.
• Supplement your health:

• Try flax seed oil, which can reduce the risk of breast cancer.
• Selenium and turmeric have tumor suppressing benefits.
• CoEnzymeQ10 and other coenzymes, such as B-vitamins, are often lacking in the tissue of breast cancer patients. Include these and test your blood levels of these and other cancer indicators.
• IP-6, an inositol-based substance, can increase natural killer cells in the body (those that attack mutated cells) as much as 300%.
• Nucleic acids, such as RNA, help with correcting errors in cell replication, and should be seriously considered by anyone at risk by age or genetics.

These strategies are not expensive or time-consuming. However, entrenched patterns of behavior are resistant to change.

If Breast Cancer Awareness helps motivate people to develop healthy habits, I am all in favor and color me pink!  If the message is solely, "If you love your mother, wife, sister, or friend, make sure they have a mammogram," I'll start Breast Cancer Prevention month, immediately.

Best wishes for excellent health and vitality!