Acne and Cancer Connection

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

In Volume 3, I talked about the link between these hormones in dairy, and the stimulation of sebaceous glands, resulting in acne. But, as we’re learning, the growth of acne is not the only thing the hormones in milk can stimulate the growth of. “Acne, dairy, and cancer,” published last year in the journal Dermato-endocrinology. “A potent link to dairy seems to exist for acne, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.” But why? Maybe it’s 5-alpha P. What is 5-alpha P?

5-alpha pregnanedione is another sex steroid hormone present in cow’s milk that is a direct precursor to a testosterone metabolite that not only drives acne, but may promote both prostate and breast cancer, like the other dairy hormones. The article starts out how, over the last 35 years, parts of a highly important jigsaw puzzle have gradually come to light.

First, all any doctor has to do is take a medical history to learn that, for example, extensive back acne is almost exclusively due to excess dairy intake, but not necessarily milk itself—it could be other dairy products.

Now, we’d like to do controlled clinical studies, but the problem is there’s no control. Dairy without the offending hormones does not exist. Even organic milk, where they’re not allowed to inject the cows with extra hormones, has growth hormones in it, because biologically, that’s the whole point of milk—to put a couple hundred pounds on a baby calf.

The problem with humans drinking cow hormones is there’s no natural feedback loop. For our own hormones, if we have too much estrogen or something, our brain damps it down. But this protective feedback system is bypassed when the system is invaded by these dihydrotestosterone precursors in dairy products.

See, the human endocrine system didn’t evolve under the influence of ingested dairy and other external hormones and growth factors, and we’re just not equipped to cope with such a “sneak attack.”

In summary, the evidence suggests that dairy-sourced hormones, not being subject to any innate feedback inhibition, may be the source of the steroid sex hormones that drive acne, prostate, and breast cancer. This is the most promising unifying hypothesis—or theory—available to explain the cause of diverse conditions that blemish, scar, shorten, and take, the lives of millions.

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• Dermatoendocrinol. 2009 Jan;1(1):12-6. Acne, dairy and cancer: The 5alpha-P link. Danby FW.

Image thanks to Caitlin Regan via Flickr

• acne
• animal products
• breast cancer
• breast health
• cancer
• chronic diseases
• dairy
• estrogen
• factory farming practices
• hormones
• men's health
• milk
• organic foods
• prostate cancer
• prostate health
• skin health
• testosterone
• women's health