Breast cancer is on the rise, especially in women under 40. This is pretty scary and the increase points to something environmental. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Kris McGrath talk about one of these environmental factors and how our individual underarm hygiene may play a role in our risk for breast (and prostate) cancers earlier in life. Dr. McGrath has had a long-time interest in this trend and they discuss some of his work on the relationship between underarm shaving and the use of deodorants and antiperspirants.

Key Takeaways:

• The majority of breast cancer is environmental or lifestyle-related. Only 5-10% of breast cancer is due to genetic causes. So what are the factors?

• Both breast cancer and prostate cancer are hormone-driven cancers.

• More research needs to be done, but there already is a significant and scary relationship between underarm hygiene and breast and prostate cancers.

"In my paper, I showed that the earlier you began underarm habits, shaving your underarms and applying antiperspirant deodorant three times a week or more, the diagnosis of breast cancer began at a younger age, especially if you started using these products before the age of 16." — Dr. Kris McGrath

Connect with Dr. Kris McGrath:

Professional Bio: feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=15819

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net

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