How to Keep Your Breasts Healthy
Learn from breast health expert Dr. Katerina Tsiapali about what you can do to keep your breasts healthy, including what kinds of deodorant you should use and what kinds of foods you should eat or avoid to prevent breast cancer, whether you should you wear a bra at night and much more!
Featured Speakers:
Nyja Harrison earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Bowie State University. Her background includes experience in medical surgical nursing and oncology in a variety of health care settings including a skilled nursing facility, community hospital, research hospital, magnet hospital and outpatient. Nyja demonstrates her longstanding commitment to providing patients affected by cancer with compassionate care in her role as oncology nurse navigator at University of MD Capital Region Health.
Katerina Tsiapali, MD, FACS | Nyja Harrison, BSN, RN
Dr. Katerina Tsiapali attended medical school at the National University of Athens Medical School in Greece. She trained at East Tennessee State University for her General Surgery residency where she developed a particular interest in breast health. She completed a fellowship in breast surgical oncology at Brown University. Dr. Tsiapali offers her patients ‘a whole person’ approach to care, including prevention and proactive screening for early detection of cancer; personalized breast cancer treatment plans for men and women; support programs after breast cancer treatment and treatment of benign breast conditions.Nyja Harrison earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Bowie State University. Her background includes experience in medical surgical nursing and oncology in a variety of health care settings including a skilled nursing facility, community hospital, research hospital, magnet hospital and outpatient. Nyja demonstrates her longstanding commitment to providing patients affected by cancer with compassionate care in her role as oncology nurse navigator at University of MD Capital Region Health.
Transcription:
How to Keep Your Breasts Healthy
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This podcast is sponsored by the UM Capital Region Health. Today we are discussing what you can do to keep your breasts healthy, including what kinds of deodorant you should use and what kinds of foods you should eat or avoid to prevent breast cancer.
We are joined by two experts in this episode, Dr. Katerina Tsiapali, a Breast Specialist and Nyja Harrison, an Oncology Nurse Navigator at UM Capital Region Health. Doctor, start off our conversation today with telling us about how women and men can keep their breasts healthy.
Katerina Tsiapali, MD, FACS (Guest): Well, breast health aligns with the rest of our health in general. So, as long as we are having healthy habits, good diets, exercise, keeping a healthy weight, the breasts definitely benefit from that as well. Specifically for breasts, it's a recommended, especially for women to have an annual breast exam. And then when they reach a certain age, to start with screening mammograms.
Host: And Nyja, tell me about self-breast checks. Are those effective?
Nyja Harrison, BSN, RN (Guest): So, actually, no, they're not effective in specifically in reducing deaths from breast cancer. Evidence doesn't really support the effectiveness of the self-breast exam anymore. If you do still want to do self-breast exam, it kind of help with self-awareness of your own body. So, if something does kind of pop up, you know, that it's abnormal.
Host: Now, are there certain types of foods or activities Doctor, that people should avoid to prevent developing breast cancer?
Dr. Tsiapali: Well, as far as foods are concerned, again, the general guidelines for what is considered healthy applies to breast as well. So, avoiding any heavily processed foods that have a lot of preservatives, anything that doesn't look like it came from mother nature. Basically our recommendation is to, to keep with that healthy, balanced diet to include most food groups, just in moderation. All activity is good for the breast and nothing that is contraindicated or not good, but I will always caution people to, to make sure that when they're exercising, especially, they use good support and that applies to women.
Host: Gotcha. And what about certain types of deodorant Nyja are there brands or the formula? What should we be looking out for?
Nyja: So, there has been some suggestion about like a link between aluminum based deodorants and the development of breast cancer, but there's actually no scientific evidence that proves or supports this assumption. So, this is kind of like a myth buster. So, I mean, if you want to, you know, use more natural products, it's kind of use your own judgment, but there's no actual scientific evidence that actually supports that you have to use or shouldn't avoid a certain type of deodorant.
Host: Wow. I have definitely been scoping out like the extra natural ones for that reason, which I guess isn't bad, right?
Nyja: Yeah.
Host: Oh, that's so funny. And Nyja I'll stick with you for the next one. Cause it's kind of another myth busters thing is wearing a bra at night recommended for keeping breasts healthy?
Nyja: Yeah, I was going to say the same thing, this is another myth buster. So, wearing a bra at night, you can wear like for preference if you want to, but it's not recommended to keep your breast healthy. And it's definitely your preference. And if you want to wear underwire, there's no contra-indication or, you know, bad points about wearing underwire. It does help to support the breasts. So, it's kinda up to you and you know, what type of bra that you like and what suits you best.
Host: Cool. Okay. Thank you. And looking at more medical procedures Doctor, at what age should women begin getting a mammogram and then how often thereafter.
Dr. Tsiapali: Well, there's a lot of controversy surrounding that because we have a lot of different guidelines from different societies, from different organizations. That all goes back to when do we start seeing breast cancers and breast cancer is a disease of older women. And I use that term very loosely, but we don't see a lot of breast cancer until women reach their mid forties, fifties, and onwards. Still, I will stick with my society, the American Society of Breast Surgeons that recommends starting at age 40, and doing your mammogram every year after that. And that recommendation has, gives you the most benefit from your, for your investment or our investment as a health system. And basically catches the most breast cancers at any age. And of course these recommendations apply to women of average risk without a lot of risk factors. If somebody has extensive family history or other issues that put them at higher risk, than they may need to screen more frequently.
Host: Now, while the occurrence is relatively low, Doctor, men have also been known to develop breast cancer. Can you tell us about this phenomenon?
Dr. Tsiapali: It's true. Men can get breast cancer. It is rare. We have probably around 2,500 cases of male breast cancer nationally per year. So, it is not a very common cancer, but it can happen. Men do have some underdeveloped breast tissue that can kind of give birth to breast cancer. Usually it presents as a lump right behind the nipple. And whenever we see breast cancer in men, we always want to, it's always a red flag, is there something genetic going on? So, that's something that we check. So, men do need to be aware of their breasts as well and make sure they don't feel any lumps or having pain or any change in the size of the breasts.
Host: Well, Doctor, wrapping up here, are there any other takeaways that you want people to draw from this episode?
Dr. Tsiapali: Please be aware of your breast health. Take a moment to have your annual breast exam and do your mammogram and make sure that you love them and support them.
Host: I love that. Well, ladies, just some wonderful information here. It's always so important to remember our breast health. This episode is sponsored by UM Capital Region Health, the largest healthcare provider in Prince Georges county, dedicated to enhancing the health and wellness of the community by providing high quality accessible patient care. UM Capital Region. Changing up healthcare in Prince Georges County. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. Thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.
How to Keep Your Breasts Healthy
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This podcast is sponsored by the UM Capital Region Health. Today we are discussing what you can do to keep your breasts healthy, including what kinds of deodorant you should use and what kinds of foods you should eat or avoid to prevent breast cancer.
We are joined by two experts in this episode, Dr. Katerina Tsiapali, a Breast Specialist and Nyja Harrison, an Oncology Nurse Navigator at UM Capital Region Health. Doctor, start off our conversation today with telling us about how women and men can keep their breasts healthy.
Katerina Tsiapali, MD, FACS (Guest): Well, breast health aligns with the rest of our health in general. So, as long as we are having healthy habits, good diets, exercise, keeping a healthy weight, the breasts definitely benefit from that as well. Specifically for breasts, it's a recommended, especially for women to have an annual breast exam. And then when they reach a certain age, to start with screening mammograms.
Host: And Nyja, tell me about self-breast checks. Are those effective?
Nyja Harrison, BSN, RN (Guest): So, actually, no, they're not effective in specifically in reducing deaths from breast cancer. Evidence doesn't really support the effectiveness of the self-breast exam anymore. If you do still want to do self-breast exam, it kind of help with self-awareness of your own body. So, if something does kind of pop up, you know, that it's abnormal.
Host: Now, are there certain types of foods or activities Doctor, that people should avoid to prevent developing breast cancer?
Dr. Tsiapali: Well, as far as foods are concerned, again, the general guidelines for what is considered healthy applies to breast as well. So, avoiding any heavily processed foods that have a lot of preservatives, anything that doesn't look like it came from mother nature. Basically our recommendation is to, to keep with that healthy, balanced diet to include most food groups, just in moderation. All activity is good for the breast and nothing that is contraindicated or not good, but I will always caution people to, to make sure that when they're exercising, especially, they use good support and that applies to women.
Host: Gotcha. And what about certain types of deodorant Nyja are there brands or the formula? What should we be looking out for?
Nyja: So, there has been some suggestion about like a link between aluminum based deodorants and the development of breast cancer, but there's actually no scientific evidence that proves or supports this assumption. So, this is kind of like a myth buster. So, I mean, if you want to, you know, use more natural products, it's kind of use your own judgment, but there's no actual scientific evidence that actually supports that you have to use or shouldn't avoid a certain type of deodorant.
Host: Wow. I have definitely been scoping out like the extra natural ones for that reason, which I guess isn't bad, right?
Nyja: Yeah.
Host: Oh, that's so funny. And Nyja I'll stick with you for the next one. Cause it's kind of another myth busters thing is wearing a bra at night recommended for keeping breasts healthy?
Nyja: Yeah, I was going to say the same thing, this is another myth buster. So, wearing a bra at night, you can wear like for preference if you want to, but it's not recommended to keep your breast healthy. And it's definitely your preference. And if you want to wear underwire, there's no contra-indication or, you know, bad points about wearing underwire. It does help to support the breasts. So, it's kinda up to you and you know, what type of bra that you like and what suits you best.
Host: Cool. Okay. Thank you. And looking at more medical procedures Doctor, at what age should women begin getting a mammogram and then how often thereafter.
Dr. Tsiapali: Well, there's a lot of controversy surrounding that because we have a lot of different guidelines from different societies, from different organizations. That all goes back to when do we start seeing breast cancers and breast cancer is a disease of older women. And I use that term very loosely, but we don't see a lot of breast cancer until women reach their mid forties, fifties, and onwards. Still, I will stick with my society, the American Society of Breast Surgeons that recommends starting at age 40, and doing your mammogram every year after that. And that recommendation has, gives you the most benefit from your, for your investment or our investment as a health system. And basically catches the most breast cancers at any age. And of course these recommendations apply to women of average risk without a lot of risk factors. If somebody has extensive family history or other issues that put them at higher risk, than they may need to screen more frequently.
Host: Now, while the occurrence is relatively low, Doctor, men have also been known to develop breast cancer. Can you tell us about this phenomenon?
Dr. Tsiapali: It's true. Men can get breast cancer. It is rare. We have probably around 2,500 cases of male breast cancer nationally per year. So, it is not a very common cancer, but it can happen. Men do have some underdeveloped breast tissue that can kind of give birth to breast cancer. Usually it presents as a lump right behind the nipple. And whenever we see breast cancer in men, we always want to, it's always a red flag, is there something genetic going on? So, that's something that we check. So, men do need to be aware of their breasts as well and make sure they don't feel any lumps or having pain or any change in the size of the breasts.
Host: Well, Doctor, wrapping up here, are there any other takeaways that you want people to draw from this episode?
Dr. Tsiapali: Please be aware of your breast health. Take a moment to have your annual breast exam and do your mammogram and make sure that you love them and support them.
Host: I love that. Well, ladies, just some wonderful information here. It's always so important to remember our breast health. This episode is sponsored by UM Capital Region Health, the largest healthcare provider in Prince Georges county, dedicated to enhancing the health and wellness of the community by providing high quality accessible patient care. UM Capital Region. Changing up healthcare in Prince Georges County. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. Thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We look forward to you joining us again.