Movement: The Next Frontier for Breast Health?

Now that we have officially left Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the pink ribbons have been tucked away for another year, perhaps it's time to think not just about research to cure cancer but also the importance of lifestyle measures that take the etiology of breast cancer into account.  The fate of our cells is strongly associated with the state of our inner environment. This is why we take so many strides towards optimizing that environment by eating well, getting exercise, and avoiding environmental toxins and known carcinogens. But is there more to optimizing our environment to support healthy breasts? 

As scary as breast cancer is, what we currently understand about cancer may give us an edge in beating the odds. A contemporary understanding of cancer acknowledges that our bodies are constantly working against cancerous and pre-cancerous cells and that the environment we provide our cells with can be either a risk factor or a preventative factor in helping those cells normalize. According to hormone-specialist Dr. Sara Gottfried, it's "lifestyle, genetics, immune functioning and nutrition that determine whether those cancer cells grow or get removed by your personal army of immune cells."  

But there is another vitally important factor in cellular health: MOVEMENT.

Research done at UC Berkeley has recently shown that breast cancer cells respond to movement, ie. loads, forces, touch, and sensory input. How amazing is that? 

"While the traditional view of cancer development focuses on the genetic mutations within the cell, Mina Bissell, Distinguished Scientist at the Berkeley Lab, conducted pioneering experiments that showed that a malignant cell is not doomed to become a tumor, but that its fate is dependent on its interaction with the surrounding microenvironment... We are showing that tissue organization is sensitive to mechanical inputs from the environment at the beginning stages of growth and development,” said principal investigator Daniel Fletcher, professor of bioengineering at Berkeley and faculty scientist at the Berkeley Lab. “An early signal, in the form of compression, appears to get these malignant cells back on the right track.” ( source )

These scientists are actually teaching the world about something called mechanotransduction , "the process by which cells sense and then translate mechanical signals (compression, tension, fluid shear) created by their physical environment into biochemical signals, allowing cells to adjust their structure and function accordingly." ( source )

Mechanotransduction explains that touch itself can provide a direct mechanism of action that will affect the chemical communication of cells in the body.  And it's not just  touch, because all sorts of forces and loads affect cells. Every load is a unique distortion of a cell. Even gravity  affects cells.  

Since we know that gravity remains locationally stable (except in Interstellar ), perhaps the most relevant question that we can ask here is whether/how our movements have changed over time, and how that might impact breast health.

We already know that modern semi-sedentary lifestyles decrease the health of our circulatory system, including the heart, and they negatively affect our metabolism and blood sugar regulation as well. Stagnation in the lymphatic system (which has no central pump and requires mechanical movement in order to work optimally) has a negative impact on our immune function as well.

Our diseases of modernity strongly correlate with our lack of regular frequent natural  movement, or basic movements that we would have made in naturelike flat soled walking, squatting, reaching, hanging, carrying, climbing, unassisted sitting, and sleeping on firm surfaces.

The most logical question might be: is the etiology of breast cancer really that different from these other modern diseases?

Consider all the ways, both cultural and environmental, that we have altered the loads to our breasts and their surrounding muscles and tissues.

Modern behaviors reduce movement in the shoulder girdle, shorten the pectoral muscles, and create restricted range of motion in the glenohumeral (shoulder) joints. Stress creates patterns of breathing that activate the scalene muscles of the neck and the traps which lift the collar bone to increase lung space instead of allowing for the full body wave of breath that would be activated by a healthy diaphragm and a relaxed nervous system.

The natural wave-like movement of healthy breathing exerts its own unique force on the tissues of the chest, thoracic spine and abdomen, creating movement in the ribs and underneath the breasts and potentiating micromovement through the upper lymphatic pathways that keep them flowing.

If this is simply the effect of healthy breathing and alignment, what happens when we consider the altered tissue dynamics created by tightly constricting bras, carrying bags on one shoulder, wearing organ-compressing shape-wear or clothing, and many hours of computer use and right-angle chair sitting every day?

What happens when we consistently restrict the musculoskeletal system? Aside from creating stagnation in the lymphatic system, tissues eventually bond together with a "connective tissue glue" comprised of fascia; we create adhesions that even further restrict movement. Your neurology creates a new "set length" for your muscles too. Yeah, your body magically makes you more "efficient" because you aren't using that range of motion! Now you require less muscular energy aka. less ATP and glucose to remain in that fixed state. 

So, what's the biomechanical answer to better breast health?

More and better quality movement.

- Incorporate more natural movements into your life: every day, every hour. Include carrying, hanging, climbing, flat shoed walking, stretching, diaphragm release, full body breathing, conscious relaxation (resolution of the stress response), and squatting. In order to create health, we have to move the body as a whole but for upper torso health, hanging/stretching the arms overhead for even ten seconds every few hours is a great start. Try to do it while keeping your torso in alignment and without lifting and flaring your ribs, even if your arms don't lift as far. 

- Practice chest opening poses to counteract the shortened pectoral posture created by computer overuse. Restorative yoga poses that open the chest are wonderful. My favorite pose is this restorative exercise floor angel  (I picked the most entertaining video.) The beautiful thing about this pose is that when you're done moving your arms and are ready to relax, as long as you have your bolster correctly placed (no lower than your shoulder blades) you're in a perfect position for psoas release which is prime deep relaxation/deep breathing territory. You can stay here 5-20 minutes while you allow  the rib cage to slowly drop down towards the floor. (No effort-ing it down.)

- Stay HUMAN. Even laughing and singing have a vibrational affect on the tissues of the lungs and chest, so let's include lifestyle habits that promote joy.  Watch funny movies and drag your friends to karaoke!   Allow yourself to cry.  All of those membranes swell and then resolve giving your system a good flush.  

- Manually stimulate  your upper lymphatic system with self-massage .

- Touch your breasts. Not just to palpate them for lumps, but to know them. Notice how the texture and firmness changes with the ebb and flow of your hormone cycle.  Nipple stimulation and oxytocin release could be a factor relating to lower rates of breast cancer in women who breastfeed . 

- Develop a relationship with your relaxation response. This program  is one I practiced and taught for more than a decade but there are many others. Find a restorative yoga class. You don't need to learn special yogic counting and breath retention as much  as you need to unlearn the holding patterns and increase the tone and flexibility of the muscles that support healthy respiration.  Holding patterns are related to stuck and held emotion, which is another reason to stay loose, not sweat the small stuff, and increase pleasure in daily life. 

Cheers! ​

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