Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (50 page)

Though other choices may be available to her, such a woman consciously believes that she is being
forced against her will
to keep her life as it is. She is being controlled unconsciously by the pattern of behavior I discussed in chapter 4 as the rape archetype. If the woman contin ues to participate in an abusive relationship in which she is continually violated either emotionally or physically (or in which she continually violates or abuses herself), she is, in energy terms, being raped. Neither she nor her abusive partner or abusive work situation recognizes her inherent dignity and inner creative power, and so her dignity, too, is raped. Such a woman often feels paralyzed by her rage—an energy that, if it were recognized and expressed, could help her create change. Another part of her paralysis is the belief that her job, husband, or other external source has control over her. Finally, her emotional wound may not have been validated or witnessed on some level and in some way. Yet in most abusive situations in which women feel powerless, husbands, bosses, or other external authorities rarely assume any responsibility for their part in the continued abuse—they, too, are unable to validate the wounding. To deal with this, women in these situations often blame themselves or absorb their own anger and rage deep within themselves. They are often afraid that if they were to let their feelings be known, they would be abandoned. Such women can begin to listen to their bodies’ wisdom, and their inner guidance systems can help them create the changes needed in their lives. Recall that the second chakra is compromised to the degree that a woman despises her job or her mate but believes that she cannot survive without these financial resources (money is, after all, a second-chakra issue).

The Golden Handcuff Syndrome

Ovarian cancer is linked epidemiologically with high socioeconomic status. Women of higher socioeconomic status may suffer from the “golden handcuff” syndrome—that is, a situation in which a woman is unhappy with her marriage or work, even despises her husband or job, yet that same husband or job provides her with the financial wherewithal to take expensive vacations, live in a beautiful home, and belong to an exclusive country club. Fearing that she would lose all these “benefits” if she left her situation, the woman stays—meanwhile stuffing her emotions into her body and feeling miserable and trapped on some level.

I’ve seen several women with ovarian cancer whose husbands have accompanied them into the office. The energy of criticism coming from these men has been palpable. I recall feeling suddenly vulnerable, guarded, and defensive in their presence. Though they said nothing, I was sure that they were silently criticizing everything about me and my office. One man shook my hand at the end of the visit without looking at me! When this man and his wife left, I said to my nurse, “How could any woman live with that energy day in and day out? I felt battered simply being in his presence.”

Possible Contributors

Such a wide variety of types of ovarian cancer exists that a full discussion of them all is beyond the scope of this book. Basically, ovar ian cancer occurs when some kind of ovarian cell begins to grow ab normal tissue. Ovarian cancer can grow very rapidly. Almost every gynecologist I know has had the experience of seeing a woman with a normal pelvic exam who three to six months later had a pelvis full of ovarian cancer that had spread rapidly and widely.

Although conventional medicine doesn’t know what causes ovarian cancer, it’s linked epidemiologically to a diet high in saturated fat and the consumption of dairy foods. Once energy blockages in the second chakra are already present, these environmental factors can clog the system and swing the body’s cells into disease. Studies have shown that ovarian cancer patients consume 7 percent more animal fat in the form of but ter, whole milk, and red meat than do healthy controls, and they eat more yogurt, cottage cheese, and ice cream.
²⁰
The higher the socioeconomic status and the richer the food, the higher the rate of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer incidence is known to be highest in those countries with the highest consumption of dairy foods (Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland) and the lowest in those countries with low dairy intake (Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore).
²¹
Galactose, a sugar produced during the digestion of dairy products, has been associated with ovar ian cancer. Cottage cheese and yogurt appear to be the worst culprits in the production of this ovarian toxin because in these foods the dairy sugars are “predigested” into galactose as the end product. The body doesn’t even need to accomplish this step. Meanwhile, women who are lactose-intolerant and therefore cannot tolerate dairy products are at a lower risk for ovarian cancer.
²²

Several studies have linked the most common types of ovarian cancer, known as epithelial cancer, with the use of talcum powder applied either to the external genitalia or to sanitary pads. The talc can migrate into the pelvic cavity via the cervix and vagina, and then out to the fallo pian tubes.
²³
Talc, and possibly other substances, might act as an irritant to the covering of the ovary and thus be a risk factor for ovarian cancer. It has been shown experimentally, for example, that carbon par ticles applied to the vulvar area can migrate into the pelvic cavity via the pelvic organs in a rather short period of time.
²⁴
Other factors linked to ovarian cancer:

A variety of toxins that poison the oocytes (the eggs of the ovary) may increase a woman’s risk of having ovarian cancer.

Radiation, mumps, virus, polycyclic hydrocarbons (which are present in cigarette smoke, caffeine, and tannic acid).

High levels of gonadotropins. Though not all studies support this, it has been hypothesized that the reason birth control pills lower the risk of ovarian cancer is because they lower gonadotropin levels and thus decrease ovarian stimulation.
²⁵
Conversely, fertility drugs increase go nadotropin levels, which has been hypothesized as the reason that these drugs have been associated with ovarian cancer.
²⁶

Chronically high levels of the androgen androstenedione. The researchers who discovered this link failed to show any association between high gonadotropin levels and ovarian cancer but found a relatively strong link between androgens and ovarian cancer.
²⁷
Androgens are increased by chronically high insulin levels from diet and/or chronic stress.

Several studies have demonstrated a significant reduction in ovar ian cancer risk, up to 37 percent, following either tubal ligation or hysterectomy.
²⁸
The explanation for this might be, in part, because after either of these procedures, the passageway from the external genital or gans to the inner pelvic cavity is permanently blocked.

What these data suggest is that women who are concerned about ovarian cancer might consider avoiding or decreasing their consumption of dairy foods, especially yogurt and cottage cheese, after the age of thirty-five, when gonadotropin levels normally tend to rise. The data do not suggest that all women over forty should go on oral contraceptives, since these, too, have side effects and risks.

Diagnosis

One of the biggest problems with diagnosing ovarian cancer in the early stages is that there are very few symptoms. Vague abdominal complaints such as indigestion are often cited. Unfortunately, a number of other problems can cause such pains, too.

Ovarian cancer is most often diagnosed in the late stages, but by then it is far less curable. We still do not have any well-tested screening methods to diagnose ovarian cancer in the early stages, let alone pre vent it. In fact, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination report that even just defining “high risk” is not yet possible (although women with hereditary cancer syndromes should see a specialist).
²⁹

Genetic or molecular biomarkers such as BRCA1 may indicate if woman has a particularly high risk of ovarian cancer, yet their use as screening tool is still experimental and currently limited to research purposes.
³⁰

Hundreds of women are now asking for sonogram screening and the blood test known as Ca-125, which checks for tumor antigens—proteins that are shed from the surface of cancer cells. Unfortunately, neither test can give a guaranteed yes-or-no answer to the question “Do I have ovarian cancer?”
³¹

A high Ca-125 reading in an otherwise normal woman creates a great deal of anxiety and fear—yet it doesn’t necessarily mean ovarian cancer. Endometriosis, fibroids, liver disease, and other unknown factors can also give high readings. At the same time, if a woman’s Ca-125 level is normal, it doesn’t guarantee that she doesn’t have ovarian cancer. (In women who’ve had their ovaries removed, 10 percent can go on to develop a form of cancer that originates in the peritoneal lining of the pelvis. Although this type of cancer does not originate in the ovary itself, it looks and acts just like ovarian cancer.) Research shows using Ca-125 for routine screening (with or without ultrasound) increases life expectancy an average of less than one day per woman screened.
³²
In short, Ca-125 tests are for the most part neither reliable nor cost-effective at this time.

Ultrasound doesn’t give a definitive answer, either. One study estimates that using ultrasound screening in one hundred thousand women over the age of forty-five would uncover forty cases of ovarian cancer—along with 5,398 false-positive results.
³³

No one can guarantee that everything is all right until laparoscopic surgery is performed and the pelvis is explored, a procedure requiring general anesthesia. Even among women generally considered at high risk who have laparotomies, relatively few cancers are diagnosed as a result. In one study of 805 high-risk women, thirty-nine laparotomies uncovered only one case of ovarian cancer (plus eight other benign tumors).
³⁴