More striking is the evidence coming from China where the introduction of jiangshi into the drinking water has substantially decreased the incidence of throat cancer. Breast cancer is now epidemic. The latest figure shows that one out of nine women will develop breast cancer. The mortality is about one-third. There are the usual genetic factors but this can not explain the rapid increase in incidence over the past 20 years.
Nutrition plays a major role.
It has been shown that a high fat diet causes an increase in blood estrogen levels. Certainly it is related to breast cancer. Countries with a very low intake of food fat have much less breast cancer than countries which consume up to 40 percent of their diet as fat. There is also an inverse connection between breast cancer and the amount of selenium in the diet. Low calcium also plays a role.