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Bras do not cause breast cancer, despite a 1995 study that claimed a positive link. Breast cancer risk factors include gender, age, family history, genetic mutations, and race, as well as environmental toxins. Women should live a healthy lifestyle and seek advice from a doctor. Women who experience discomfort wearing a bra should consider professional fitting or alternative styles.
The short answer to that question is no, bras don’t cause breast cancer. The study of breast cancer and cancers in general is extremely challenging and no one can really point to a particular cause for most forms of cancer. However, there are some clear risk factors for breast cancer that scientists have agreed on after years of study. Contrary to the “facts” in the chain letters that many people have read, the risks of things like bras, prosthetics and underarm deodorants have yet to be proven through scientific studies.
The controversy was sparked in 1995 when two men published a study they claimed had demonstrated a positive link between bras and breast cancer. Unfortunately, this study is a classic example of a very common problem in science: the tendency to link correlation with causality. The group of women in the study was too small to draw meaningful conclusions, and the higher rates of breast cancer in women who used bras could be attributed to a number of factors.
The study looked at 4,700 American women in five major cities and was supplemented with a study of women in Fiji. American women had higher rates of cancer overall than Fijian women, and the authors incorrectly decided this was because American women were more likely to wear bras. Of course, women in Fiji are free from many risk factors for breast cancer; for example, white women are at higher risk of breast cancer, especially when they live in urban areas with a wide range of environmental pollutants, exactly like the women in this study.
It cannot be said that a single thing causes breast cancer, but some risk factors are gender, age, family history, genetic mutations, and race. Women who have children tend to be less likely to get cancer, and breast cancer has also been linked to hormone replacement therapy, alcohol abuse, being overweight and having a poor exercise routine. Bras of all styles have not been linked to breast cancer in hundreds of studies of millions of women worldwide.
Many scientists believe that environmental toxins could be a significant factor in all types of cancer, including breast cancer. People who want to avoid cancer should try to live a healthy lifestyle, especially if they are at high risk. A doctor can provide more information about any individual’s risk of breast cancer and will be happy to discuss any concerns the person may have.
While bras don’t cause breast cancer, some women choose not to wear bras for other reasons. If discomfort is the primary obstacle to wearing a bra, however, a woman might consider having a professional fit to ensure she’s wearing the right size. There are also different styles of strappy and non-wired bras for women who are intolerant of underwired bras. Ultimately, the decision to wear a bra or not is up to the individual, but she shouldn’t let pseudoscientific claims scare her away from supportive clothing.
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