Every day, it seems, we get another opinion on the role of hormone therapy and how it affects women. We’ve heard that hormone replacement therapy can increase the risk of heart attacks and cancer for women. But one doctor now says that might not be the case for women, or at least, younger women.

Dr. Leon Speroff maintains that heart attack risk increased after the age of 70 for women. He also says a “number of studies indicate estrogen therapy very likely does reduce heart disease in women under 60.”
Furthermore, he says estrogen doesn’t increase the …read more

We’ve heard the link between obesity and breast cancer, but new research suggests there is a correlation between insulin and higher breast cancer risk. This is an important finding because the insulin link was prevalent even in women who were not overweight.

According to one study, an “analysis of 5450 women shows that higher circulating insulin levels lead to twice the likelihood of breast cancer.” In postmenopausal women, higher insulin levels contributed to the risk even among women of a normal weight. This research seems to confirm that a healthy diet (which can keep insulin levels down) …read more

While avoiding too much sunshine will reduce one’s risk of skin cancer, it will on the other hand increase one’s risk of breast cancer.
The majority of vitamin D comes from exposure of the skin to sunlight but many women – exposed less in winter and reluctant to bare themselves in summer because of the dangers – are deficient.
There has been anecdotal evidence to suggest that breast cancer is less common among women who live closer to the Equator, where the sunshine is stronger.
But a new study conducted by Creighton University provided evidence that the lower the levels of vitamin D …read more

Women who suffered morning sickness during pregnancy may actually be fortunate because this could mean 30% lower risk of breast cancer later in life compared to those who had nausea-free pregnancies.
[I had a nausea-free pregnancy you know!]
Such were the findings of University of Buffalo epidemiologists, recently presented at the Society for Epidemiologic Research’s annual meeting in Boston.
According to David Jaworowicz, Jr., first author on the study and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Social Preventive Medicine in UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions:
“Although the exact mechanism responsible for causing nausea and vomiting during pregnancy has yet to …read more

A woman’s chance of developing breast cancer is greatly increased by eating red meat.
But don’t we know that already?
However, a University of Leeds research found a striking association in post-menopausal women.
…those with the highest intake of red meat, the equivalent to one portion a day (more than 57 grams) – run a 56 per cent greater risk of breast cancer than those who eat none.
Women who eat the most processed meat, such as bacon, sausages, ham or pies, run a 64 per cent greater risk of breast cancer than those who eat none.
This recent finding was derived from …read more