There is now a pretty conclusive study that shows that there is a definite link between breast cancer likelihood and the taking of supplements medically prescribed for menopause relief for five years or more.  The two supplementations I’m speaking of are naturally occurring female hormones that tend to naturally dwindle with age and cause their own host of problems, called Progesting and Estrogen. 

These two hormones are a woman’s friend in the right dosages, but some opponents say that medically prescribed HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, which is usually comprised of combinations for progestin and estrogen hormone replacements, cause a great increase in the risk for breast cancer in the women who take them for longer periods of time. 

The link has been somewhat of a theory for a while now, but the study now definitively links the two and physicians should now be aware of this extreme downside to prescribing hormone replacement therapy for their female patients from now on.  The good news though is that, unlike some other cancer increasing habits or factors, the fact that a woman has been on HRT should pretty quickly dissipate after she’s discontinued treatment, as far as it’s likely impact on her odds at getting breast cancer. 

So, unlike something like smoking, which takes a woman years to recover her lung health and regain a firm hold against cancer, HRT is almost immediately a dissipated risk factor once it is stopped by the female patient.  So, if a woman has been on hormone replacement therapy for a few years, her body quickly recovers from it’s increased likelihood of getting breast cancer, which is good, but it doesn’t mean that HRT should be looked upon lightly, since it is enough of a concern.

The reason I say it’s enough of a concern is that there was a marked improvement in the numbers of breast cancer incidents during the years immediately following the bad press on HRT and the subsequent halting of many doctors recommending or prescribing HRT for their female patients, which indicates a real link, combined with this new evidence. 

This entry was posted on December 24, 2008 at 7:26 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by Breast News Girl No Comments Yet