Some women prefer to go “au naturel”, but most choose to support their breast with an underwire bra. However, the rumor has been circulating for decades that wearing bras may cause breast cancer. It’s time to debunk this myth: do you have to give up your favorite bra to protect your breasts?
The reasoning behind the “bra-caused breast cancer theory” is the following: having one’s breasts in cages with metal wires may inhibit lymphatic drainage, trapping toxic liquid in the breast tissue, which may lead to cancer.
However, according to critics, there has been no scientific data that proves this myth to be true. “Bodily fluid actually travels up and out of the armpits, not down toward the underwire,” explains Marisa Weiss, president and founder of the website breastcancer.org.
“It just really is not logical in terms of what would increase your risk of breast cancer,” adds Louise Brinton, chief of the hormonal and reproductive epidemiology branch of the National Cancer Institute. Commonly accepted breast cancer risk factors are generally things that affect endogenous hormone levels, she says. For example, how old a woman is, the age at which she had her first child or a family history of the disease.
Probably this myth comes from the frustration of not knowing what causes the disease, coupled with a desire that the disease should come from something a woman can control.
Source: Scientific American
Photo: cattias.photos/Flickr
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