Came across a very disturbing article today. Girls as young as 11 are being diagnosed with breast cancer. How surprising is this? According to the article, “Only about 7 percent of breast cancer cases occur in patients under the age of 40.”

That’s a really small incidence rate for a very large percentage of the population.

The cases mentioned in the article occurred in girls with no family history of breast cancer. Often women with the BRCA1 or 2 genes develop breast cancer earlier than most women, but by earlier, that means their 20s and 30s, not before they have even reached puberty.

The article does not speculate as to the possible cases of these cases of breast cancer in young girls, but one has to wonder whether whether the chemicals in our food and water (hormones used to affect milk in cows jump immediately to mind) are leading to this affect.

Is there any direct evidence linking chemicals and hormones in the diet to reduced age and puberty and increased incidence of breast cancer? No. But we don’t seem to have any direct causal evidence, which would lead me–if I were a mother–to try and avoid these chemicals in my home and in the diet of my children.

But I’m not writing to point fingers. I’m writing because this is something that parents need to be aware of. If you have daughters–or know someone with daughters–please share this information with them.