October has been an exciting month for us at Alpha Care Wellness Center! We continue to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month with a 5 mile virtual walk honoring our warriors in pink. There are still tshirts available for purchase to raise money for the Careity Foundation, and on top of all of that- Dr. Catherine is preparing to host an informative webinar on the natural approach to breast cancer prevention scheduled for this Thursday, October 29th at 6:30 pm CDT. So much packed into one month!
Alongside celebrating fun events to bring about awareness, we want to continue to provide the most up to date information, tools and resources in integrative medicine and its role in prevention and treatment of diagnoses like breast cancer.
One of the factors known to increase risk of breast cancer is an increased Body Mass Index. Research tells us that after menopause, women who are overweight and/or obese have an increased risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. This means that if you fall into the category of having a BMI higher than 25, your risk goes up 30-60%.
After menopause, the ovaries do not create the volume of estrogen that they did before, forcing them to primarily come from fat tissue. The problem with this is that the fatty tissue contains aromatase, an enzyme converting androgens to estrogens. In summary, women with excess weight after menopause will have higher blood estrogen levels, increasing risk of breast cancer. Also, women with higher body mass index traditionally have high levels of insulin, which has also been linked to increasing risk of certain cancers, including breast cancer.
So knowing this, losing weight and maintaining a healthy BMI can decrease a woman’s chances of breast cancer diagnosis alongside other health risks. We here at Alpha Care Wellness Center are committed to your health and finding creative and effective ways to lowering your risk of disease. This is why in November, we are offering weight loss clients the opportunity to receive body composition readings from our newest Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) machine! A reading from this machine can translate the following about your body:
- Total Body Water
- Lean Body Mass
- Skeletal Body Mass
- Percent Body Fat
- And much more!
Instead of relying on BMI and standing on the bathroom scale to measure fat loss, the BIA machine gives you an accurate idea of where you need to make adjustments and how. You will receive a print out of your analysis with each reading and can come back to see how your results compare as you go about your weight loss journey. We are excited to offer this new tool in weight management and look forward to seeing clients take advantage of this resource! Ready to begin your journey to a healthier you? Give us a call at 817-550-6332 to schedule an appointment!