Gwyneth Paltrow is in hot water after her lifestyle website, Goop.com, posted an essay that wearing bras could lead to breast cancer. The website was accused of using scare tactics to gain readership as it posted an essay of nearly 2,700 words by the actress' favorite doctor, Dr. Habib Sadeghi.
Health experts are angry at the move made by the website, saying that it could scare and stress out women. Resusrrecting scientific claims that have long been debunked and discredited could potentially lead to misinformation among readers.
Sadeghi claimed in his article, entitled "Could There Possibly Be a Link Between Underwire Bras and Breast Cancer?," that wearing underwire bras for so long restricts lymph nodes in the breast and underarm area, causing accumulation of cancer-causing toxins because it prevents "toxins from being processed through them and flushed out of the body."
However, the man dubbed 'super doctor' by Paltrow linked his essay to a book published in 1995 entitled, "Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras," whose findings and claims were debunked by medical associations and experts many times.
According to the American Cancer Society, there is "no scientific evidence to support a link between wearing a form-fitting bra and breast cancer." They added that the study conducted years ago "was not conducted according to standard principles of epidemiological research."
"We do not know of any epidemiologic studies published in scientific journals that suggest bras directly contribute to breast cancer risk or that lymphatic compression by bras might cause breast cancer," the cancer society added.
A 2014 study contradicts that claim, according to a report in USA Today. The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, found no differences in lifetime bra-wearing habits among more than 1,500 postmenopausal women with and without a history of breast cancer.
The post went viral as medical experts reacted on this erroneous information being circulated around the Internet. "There is no science to back up a bra and breast cancer connection, never mind that the mechanism is biologically implausible. The myth has been debunked so many times I have lost track," San Francisco-based obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Jennifer Gunter said in her response to the post.
"This stuff scares women," Gunter added.
This is not the first time Paltrow was the center of controversy because of her health advice posts. Earlier this month, she posted a photo of herself in a sauna to beat the flu. Medical experts said that her medical advice could lead to dangerous side effects.
In January, she posted the benefits of herbal vaginal steam, which many doctors dubbed as a very dangerous recommendation. "Gwyneth Paltrow continues to give unsafe medical advice," Dr. Alexandra Sowa, an NYC-based internist and clinical instructor in medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, said.
"It is dangerous for nonmedical practitioners to be offering medical advice. My hope is that the more negative attention she receives from the medical community, the less likely people will be to follow her ill-conceived advice," Sowa added.
