This article may be of interest to readers (the full article is available via
the wbesite given below).
Menopausal Estrogen and Estrogen-Progestin Replacement Therapy and Breast
Cancer Risk - Hormones May Increase Breast Cancer Risk
Catherine Schairer, Jay Lubin et al J of Amer Med Assoc (Jan 26, 2000):
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v283n4/abs/joc91096.html (Abstract)
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v283n4/full/joc91096.html (Full article)
Many older women take hormones to protect themselves from heart disease and
the thinning of their bones after their bodies lose natural hormones. Some
older women take the hormones to ease other problems during the menopause.
Now, a new study says women who take the hormones estrogen and progesterone
may have a greater chance of developing breast cancer than had been thought.
Scientists at the National Cancer Institute did the new study, reporting the
results in the Journal of the American Medical Association..
After studying 46 355 postmenopausal women, it was found that the chance of
developing breast cancer increased by 8 percent a year in women who took both
hormones. After ten years, the chance of developing the disease would be
eighty percent higher than women who did not take hormones. The chance of
developing breast cancer increased by one percent a year in women taking
estrogen alone.
The hormones increased the risk of breast cancer only in women who were
currently taking the drugs or who had taken them during the past four years.
The researchers say these findings mean that women must carefully consider
whether or not to take hormones. They say short term use of both
progesterone and estrogen is probably safe for fewer than five years. But
taking them for any longer is now in question.
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Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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