This some of the research I have found so far and it is growing. This can get you started to doing your own research.
Bras don’t work, make breasts saggier, French study finds
Women who go braless may actually have the right idea, new research suggests.
According to the results of a 15-year study in France published Wednesday, bras provide no benefits to women and may actually be harmful to breasts over time.
“Medically, physiologically, anatomically, the breast does not benefit from being deprived of gravity,” Jean-Denis Rouillon, a professor at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon, told France Info.
Conducting the study at the university’s hospital, Rouillon measured and examined the breasts of more than 300 women, aged 18 and 35, taking note of how the additional support provided by bras affects the body over time. (It should be noted the study does not mention breast size.)
Overall, he found that women who did not use bras benefited in the long term, developing more muscle tissue to provide natural support. As France’s The Local notes, Rouillon also noticed that nipples gained a higher lift, in relation to the shoulders, on women who went braless. When bras are worn, the restrictive material prevents such tissue from growing, which may actually accelerate sagging, the study concluded.
Capucine Vercellotti, a 28-year-old woman who participated in the research, found that she breathes easier without the constraints of a bra.
“At first, I was a little reluctant to the idea of running without a bra, but I got started and after five minutes, I had no trouble at all,” Vercellotti said, according to the Agence France-Presse.
But don’t throw away your bras just yet, ladies.
Despite the findings, Rouillon said it would be dangerous to advise all women to take off their bras based on the study’s sample, which may not be representative of the population.
Speaking to France Info, Rouillon cautioned women who have worn bras for a long time — several decades — from following the recommendation since they would not benefit from taking off their bras now.
15-year study from France finds breasts saggier with bra, no reason to deny them gravity.
Women throws bras into the air during “Pink Bra Bazzar,” an event designed to bring awareness to breast cancer, on March 25, 2013 in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)
What do you think?
According to a new French study, women have reasons to burn their bras that have nothing to do with glass ceilings or women’s liberation.
Results from a 15-year study published Wednesday conclude that bras are a “false necessity” that provide no benefits to breasts, The Local reported.
“Medically, physiologically, anatomically — breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity,” said the study’s author, University of Besancon Prof. Jean-Denis Rouillon. “On the contrary, they get saggier with a bra.”
That appears to be due to less muscle development in women who wear bras. The study found women it tracked who went braless had better muscle tone and higher lift than their bra-wearing counterparts.
Rouillon, a sports science expert, took measurements from 130 women during the life of the study.
One woman who participated told The Local she can “breathe more easily. I carry myself better and I have less back pain.”
More from GlobalPost: Ice bra aims to keep women cool under pressure
The French study follows findings from British researchers that suggest bras might pose cancer risks.
Cardiff University Prof. Robert Mansel and Simon Cawthorn, from Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, asked 100 women to ban their bras for three months and then return to wearing one for another three months.
On average, the women were pain free more (about seven percent more) without a bra, the Daily Mail reported.
The doctors say there might be a correlation between breast pain and developing breast cancer, although they didn’t connect bras and cancer directly.
More from GlobalPost: New JoeyBra hides valuables like … cellphones
Health risks of wearing a bra
by PAUL KENDALL and JENNY HOPE
Women could be putting their health at risk by wearing bras, researchers have warned. A study by two British surgeons found they are more likely to suffer regular breast pain, which has been linked to breast cancer.
There is already international evidence that cultures where women do not wear bras are free of the cancer. The British research was carried out by Professor Robert Mansel, of Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales, and Simon Cawthorn, from Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
They asked 100 premenopausal women to go without a bra for three months then return to wearing one for another three months and record any differences.
Their diaries showed that, on average, the number of totally pain-free days went up by 7 per cent when the women stopped wearing a bras.
Several separate studies have shown a link between breast pain and breast cancer. French researchers found women with monthly breast pain were twice as likely to develop the disease.
It is estimated that two in five British women suffer from breast pain, with some also having cysts. The pain can leave breasts feeling extremely tender, restrict movement and stop women from picking up their children.
Professor Mansel said: ‘I know women who are unable to work because of breast pain. It’s very common but very hard to treat.’
Medical anthropologist Sydney Singer has claimed that, across the world, breast cancer is a problem only in cultures where women wear bras.
He believes tight bras cause congestion in the lymph nodes – a vital part of the immune system and the body’s first line of defence against the spread of cancer
Professor Mansel and Mr Cawthorn agree there is no evidence that wearing a bra brings any medical benefit. But the charity Breast Cancer Care warned women to be sceptical about the research.
A spokesman said last night: ‘This study could frighten a lot of women, as most women in this country wear bras. It is certainly a very interesting study but it is a very small one, so any theories coming out of it really do need to be treated with caution.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5667/Health-risks-wearing-bra.html#ixzz2QPlq91xg
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BRA-LESS and BREAST CANCER
It is estimated that every two minutes someone is diagnosed with breast cancer and every thirteen minutes some dies as a result of breast cancer. It has also been shown that breast cancer tends to be higher in cultures where bras are worn frequently compared to where bras are absent.
In a report titled “Dressed to Kill”, it was discovered that wearing a bra for 12 hours daily increased the risk for breast cancer, cystic breasts, breast pain, breast tenderness and other breast related conditions. Ladies who had bras on for 18-24 hours daily have over a 100% increased incidence of breast cancer compared to those who don’t wear bras at all.
But the facts available are that bras create constant pressure on the breast, which compresses and constricts and hinders the lymphatic movement to the chest area. But if you are a woman who wears a bra and you see red marks and lines after taking your bra off, you are at a greater risk for breast cancer.
You cannot just go braless overnight but if you must wear a bra, try it along the lines below which will most likely reduce the risk associated with the wearing of a bra:
Don’t wear tight bras.
Choose a bra with no underwear
Used a larger size bra around your menstrual time as increased estrogen causes tissues to retain fluids making the breasts larger and the bra tighter.
Stop the use of deodorants/antiperspirants, if you can. Wash your armpits often with soap and water instead.
Sleep naked or in a stretchy T-shirt.
And most importantly wear bras only when it is completely necessary, this will reduce the number of hours you wear bra a day to the barest minimum.
- So, do something for your health and your life.
(Information from – http://www-market-online.com/braless.php)
BRAS vs. BREAST CANCER
It is estimated that every two minutes someone is diagnosed with breast cancer and every thirteen minutes some dies as a result of breast cancer. It has also been shown that breast cancer tends to be higher in cultures where bras are worn frequently compared to where bras are absent.
In a report titled “Dressed to Kill”, it was discovered that wearing a bra for 12 hours daily increased the risk for breast cancer, cystic breasts, breast pain, breast tenderness and other breast related conditions. Ladies who had bras on for 18-24 hours daily have over a 100% increased incidence of breast cancer compared to those who don’t wear bras at all.
But the facts available are that bras create constant pressure on the breast, which compresses and constricts and hinders the lymphatic movement to the chest area. But if you are a woman who wears a bra and you see red marks and lines after taking your bra off, you are at a greater risk for breast cancer.
You cannot just go braless overnight but if you must wear a bra, try it along the lines below which will most likely reduce the risk associated with the wearing of a bra:
Don’t wear tight bras.
Choose a bra with no underwear
Used a larger size bra around your menstrual time as increased estrogen causes tissues to retain fluids making the breasts larger and the bra tighter.
Stop the use of deodorants/antiperspirants, if you can. Wash your armpits often with soap and water instead.
Sleep naked or in a stretchy T-shirt.
And most importantly wear bras only when it is completely necessary, this will reduce the number of hours you wear bra a day to the barest minimum.
So, do something for your health and your life.
(Information from – http://www-market-online.com/braless.php)
BRAS vs. BREAST CANCER
A few highlights of the history of research on bras and breast disease:
In the 1930s a paper was published making a connection between corsets and increased breast cancer rates.
1978 An M.D. in California published an article in a medical journal linking bras with elevated breast temperature, and he suggested that this might have a connection with breast cancer. He studied several hundred women in a medical practice and also observed that the heavier the bra material, the hotter the breast, and that bra-free women of all sizes had cooler breasts. (The Lancet, November 4, 1978, P. 1001 Dr. John M. Douglass, Department of Internal Medicine, S. Calif. Permanente Med. Center Los Angeles, California).
1991 Researchers at Harvard University publish a medical journal article on breast cancer risk. As a side issue of their paper, they mention that the women in their study that did not wear bras had a 60% lower rate of breast cancer than the women who wore bras. (Hsieh, C.C. and D. Trichopoulos, D. Eur. J. Cancer 27:131-5, 1991 “Breast size, handedness and breast cancer risk”)
1991 Researchers in Japan published a study on bras and sagging, in which they proved that a bra can actually increase breast sagging, rather than the opposite. This effect was most noticeable in larger breasted women. They compared bras to foot binding in their discussion section. (“Breast Form Changes Resulting From A Certain Brassiere” Journal of Hum. Ergol.(Tokyo) 1990 Jun; 19(1):53-62. Ashizawa K, Sugane A, Gunji T Institute of Human Living Sciences, Otsuma Women’s University, Tokyo, Japan)
1995 Sydney Singer and Soma Grismaijer of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease published their book, “Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras,” (Avery Press). Their study included almost 4600 women, half of whom had breast cancer and half of whom did not. They found that the more hours per day that a bra is worn, the higher the rate of breast cancer and that women who do not wear bras have a dramatically reduced rate of breast cancer. Singer and Grismaijer have a website at: http://www.selfstudycenter.org/
1995 through the present. Many women, who had concerns about breast cancer risk and/or breast pain, quit wearing bras and then found that their pain and cysts of fibrocystic breast disease was dramatically decreased or eliminated. Several of these women wrote their own personal case histories, which appear on the web at: http://www.all-natural.com/fibrocys.html
May 1999. A landmark study was published in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet. This study showed that pre-menopausal women with fibrocystic breast disease have an almost 6-fold higher risk of future breast cancer. This study firmly refutes the advice of some doctors who have said that fibrocystic carries no increased risk. In all, there are now over 30 published medical and scientific research articles showing a connection between fibrocystic and increased breast cancer risk. (Lancet 1999 May 22;353(9166):1742-5 “Risk of breast cancer in women with palpable breast cysts: a prospective study.” Edinburgh Breast Group. Dixon JM, McDonald C, Elton RA, Miller WR Edinburgh Breast Unit, Western General Hospital, UK.”)
2000. Two British breast surgeons conduct clinical trials at two breast clinics in England and Wales. They study 100 women to see if going bra-free (a more positive term the physicians used for braless) could lessen breast pain. Their study concluded that the majority of pre-menopausal women found decreased pain during a three-month bra-free study period. The women were instructed to not wear a bra for three months and instead to wear a loose and non-restricting camisole if they desired an alternative undergarment. For comparison, they then returned to wearing bras for another three months. For additional study control, another group of women did the reverse and were bra-wearers for three months, then bra-free for three months. A half-hour documentary was filmed in conjunction with the studies and was shown on nationwide television in England in November, 2000 on Channel 4 UK. Several of the women were interviewed and discussed the life-altering improvements in their breast health, such as being able to now pick up their children or hug their spouse without pain. (Simon Cawthorne, M.D. surgeon at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, England and Prof. Robert Mansel, M.D., Surgery Dept. Head, University of Wales Medical School, Cardif, Wales.) Doctors interviewed in the film commented about how breasts in bras are hotter than bra-free breasts and the possible connection of this breast heating with breast cancer. Prof. Hugh Simpson discussed his published research, which has previously proven that pre-cancerous and cancerous breasts are both hotter than normal breasts. The documentary included video thermography of women with and without bras, proving that bras cause localized heating of breast tissue.
2000. A group of researchers in Japan published their studies showing that wearing a girdle and bra lowers the levels of the hormone melatonin by 60 percent. (Chronobiol Int 2000 Nov;17(6):783-93 “The effects of skin pressure by clothing on circadian rhythms of core temperature and salivary melatonin.” Lee YA, Hyun KJ, Tokura H, Department of Environmental Health, Nara Women’s University, Japan.)
Melatonin is intimately involved with sleep cycles and is used to prevent jet-lag. Numerous published studies have suggested that melatonin has anti-cancer activities, that it is an antioxidant and can prevent DNA damage, and that it is intimately involved in the immune system and can bind directly to T helper cells. Researchers in Spain have published an article outlining the possible use of melatonin in breast cancer prevention and treatment (Histol Histopathol 2000 Apr;15(2):637-47). Recent research (J. Hansen, “Light at Night, Shiftwork, and Breast Cancer Risk” J Natl Cancer Inst 2001; 93: 1513-1515) has shown that nighttime exposure to light is associated with increased rates of breast cancer. This builds upon previous research that showed that light at night suppresses melatonin production.
December 2000. A medical doctor published his findings on shoulder pain treatment in women with large breasts. In this five-year study, it was suggested that patients remove the weight from their shoulders for a period of two weeks, either by going braless or by wearing a strapless bra. Only one woman chose a strapless bra and all the others went braless. Quoting the article, “Long-term outcome was presence or absence of muscle pain and tenderness. Seventy-nine percent of patients decided to remove breast weight from the shoulder permanently because it rendered them symptom free.” (Ryan, EL, Clin J Pain 2000 Dec;16(4):298-303, “Pectoral girdle myalgia in women: a 5-year study in a clinical setting.”)
(Information from – http://www.zhealthinfo.com/brasvscancer.htm)
Don’t wear a bra to bed
Use a bra loosely. It should never leave a mark on your back or skin.
When removing a bra, massage your breasts to get the lymph flowing again.
Try to minimize wearing underwire, push-up or strapless bras.
Try not to wear a bra at all.
No Bra? No Breast Cancer
Jillita Horton, Yahoo! Contributor Network http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/49865/jillita_horton.html
Jul 7, 2008 “Share your voice on Yahoo! websites.”
Going braless will lower breast cancer risk dramatically, says a medical anthropologist. There’s now enough information on bras and breast cancer to startle any woman. The bras and breast cancer link theory can’t be ignored. The bras and breast cancer link is no longer mythical. To uncover how a bra can lead to breast cancer, I interviewed Sidney Ross Singer, a medical anthropologist, director of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, and co-author of “Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras.”
After reading his information on bras and breast cancer here, you will have enough knowledge about breast cancer and bras to lose some sleep wondering about your own bra wearing and breast health. I first asked how Singer arrived at a link between bras and breast cancer.
Singer: We were in Fiji doing research unrelated to breast cancer when Soma (Singer’s wife) discovered a lump in her breast. We returned to the U.S. After the long flight she took off her bra, and suddenly realized that she had red marks and indentations around her breasts left by the bra. These marks and indentations, which she frequently had but ignored over the years, now were seen for what they were — signs of constriction.
And the first thing that gets constricted is the lymphatic system, since its tiny lymphatic vessels are known to be easily compressed. Since the lymphatic system is responsible for removing toxins from the tissues, preventing this disposal by compression from the bra could cause accumulation of toxins within the breast tissue. It would also result in fluid accumulation, or edema, and lymph blockage is known to cause some types of cancer.
Explain lymphedema more.
Singer: This is why so many women have fluid-filled cysts, pain and tenderness in their breasts. The bra is causing a backup of lymph. This results in tissue degeneration, as the cells sit in their own waste. The oxygen level gets dangerously low. Since cells need oxygen to function properly, this lowers all cellular functions. Tissue damage is the known result of lymphedema.
Because the lymphatics cannot remove toxins from the breast issue effectively due to the bra-caused constriction, the tissue accumulates these toxins. By toxins, we are referring to cancer causing chemicals that pollute our air, food, and water. These chemicals course throughout the body and are delivered to the breast tissue by the bloodstream. It is then the job of the lymphatics to remove them from the tissue. However, impaired by the bra, the breast lymphatics are not up to the task, and the cancer causing toxins stay in the breast tissue.
Is there research backing up the connection between lymphedema and cancer?
Lymphangiosarcoma is a recognized cancer outcome of lymphedema. For example, see Rev Med Suisse. 2007 Dec 5;3(136):2802-5.
For an excellent presentation, see Lymph-Stasis The Precursor of Cancer, by Dr. W. Sampson Handley, M.S., F.R.C.S., in the November 1929 Journal of the Canadian Medical Association. (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=381504)
For a more recent medical discussion, see the article, Cancer…Does It Begin with Lymph Congestion?
(http://www.worldhealth.net/news/cancer_does_it_begin_with_lymph_congesti)
Explain your research.
We conducted our 1991-93 Bra and Breast Cancer Study looking at the bra wearing habits and attitudes of over 4,700 women in the U.S., about half of whom had had breast cancer. After that, we returned to Fiji to do a follow-up study in a culture where half the women are bra-free, and discovered that, given women from the same village, with the same genetic background and diet and environment, the women who had to wear bras for work were the ones getting breast cancer. We found 24 case histories of breast cancer and all were in bra wearing women. Breast cancer, in fact, was unheard of in Fiji before Western fashions brought the bra.
Also of interest is that the native women of New Zealand, the Maori, are completely westernized in their dress style, including wearing bras, and these women have the same high breast cancer rates as white New Zealand women. However, the Aborigines of Australia are not as westernized, do not wear bras, and have no breast cancer.
International statistics show that breast cancer is only a problem in cultures where there are bras.
Any statistics on American women who don’t wear bras and breast cancer incidence?
The bra/cancer issue is being ignored and suppressed by the medical industry, so these statistics are not yet known.
This makes me think of the tobacco industry. It took decades for the medical profession to finally realize the connection between smoking and lung cancer. The tobacco industry still tries to suppress facts and denies any link between smoking and lung cancer. So it makes sense that the bra and breast cancer idea — only in its infancy — is being criticized. But what’s keeping research into bras and breast cancer suppressed?
Breast cancer detection and treatment is a huge income producer for the cancer industry. Billions of dollars are made each year by this industry.
The prevention of this disease, especially without drugs or surgery, would be a financial catastrophe for this industry. This is why the link between breast cancer and bras is being suppressed and censored by the ACS. Not only is there no profit in telling women to stop wearing tight bras to prevent this disease, it also is an embarrassment to the cancer research and treatment industry.
Admitting the bra/cancer connection invalidates most breast cancer research for ignoring the most important factor affecting breast health and disease. It’s like studying foot disease and ignoring shoes. This is why, despite billions in research and decades of studies, the “experts” still say they don’t know what’s causing 70% of breast cancer cases. The bra explains that other 70%.
I still don’t understand why well-meaning researchers and physicians wouldn’t want to explore every possibility.
The bra/cancer link challenges the current theory and practice of breast cancer experts, who feel threatened by this challenge to their authority. Their instinctive response is to deny, even to themselves, that the new information could have any possible merit. It took 30 years for experts to open their minds to the smoking/lung cancer link, so we probably have another 18 years for them to accept the bra/cancer link.
But WHO or WHAT is stopping the research?
Researchers have personally told me they do not want to be blacklisted and lose drug money funding as a result of looking into the bra/cancer link. Government funding sources are also controlled by drug companies. And the bra industry is fearful of class action lawsuits.
Given the high stakes and resistance, researchers are afraid to enter the fray. And since nobody makes money by women going bra-free to prevent breast cancer, there is no financial incentive to further research.
I feel certain that the bra industry, which has reacted sharply and defensively to our research, has conducted their own research to see if we are right, and they know we are. The fact that nothing has been published or announced does not mean no research has been done. It means no research is being announced. (There are now several new, patented bras designed to aid lymphatic flow to reduce the damage caused by regular bras. They probably don’t do what they claim, but the fact that they exist, and refer to our research in their patents, shows the industry is reacting.)
What happened with Soma’s lump?
Soma’s lump disappeared months after getting rid of her bra. Get rid of the bra before you have breast cancer.
What about breast cancer striking women who DON’T wear bras?
A small percentage of women have a genetic predisposition to breast cancer, as do some men (About 1,500 U.S. men are diagnosed every year with breast cancer). The bra is not the only cause. However, these other causes are minimal compared to the bra, which is why breast cancer is a 20th century epidemic paralleling the use of 20th century lingerie.
How would going braless change breast cancer rates?
We live in a breast binding culture. Breast damage from decades of bra wearing will not completely reverse overnight. However, if a new generation of young women go through life bra-free, their breast cancer rates would probably be as low as male rates. So, we may never get rid of breast cancer altogether, but we can reduce its incidence, making it a rare disease that would be mostly genetic in origin
Medical Doctor’s Take
I asked a board certified surgeon who specializes in breast disease about the idea of lymph system compression and breast health. Kerry Bennett, MD, MPH, FACS, is a breast surgeon at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston.
Dr. Bennett explains: “I do agree that bras can compress the lymphatic system. Toxins are thought to deposit in the fatty tissue of the breast. The blood and lymphatic system are integral to removing toxins and bringing in healthy nutrients and oxygen. If these systems are blocked, toxins theoretically could increase and possibly cause genetic damage to the cells. Cancer may come from toxins ‘hitting’ the genetic makeup. Many practitioners believe that cancer comes from a multiple-hit theory in which toxins damage genes and the genes produce abnormal cells.”
She adds, “One of the reasons people don’t want to explore this (bra and breast cancer link) is that it would be quite difficult to do a randomized trial to study this link at this point.”
Dr. Bennett continues: “Bras could increase the toxin damage to genes in theory. There is no good scientific data to substantiate this. It is only a theory. I recommend that women wear bras that fit properly (which most don’t), and minimize or eliminate underwire bras. I believe that women should have bra-free time each day.”
For additional information, see this study out of Harvard that found bra-wearing women had much higher rates of breast cancer than bra-free women. (Hsieh, C.C. and D. Trichopoulos, D. Eur. J. Cancer 27:131-5 1991)
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1827274?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed. Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum)