Link Between Hormones and Cancer Risk Confirmed

Two new studies have confirmed the link between menopause hormones and an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers.

Newly released U.S. government figures show a significant decline in breast cancer rates in 2003 and 2004 after millions of women stopped taking hormones linked to higher heart attack, stroke and breast cancer risks. From 2001 to 2004, the overall drop in breast cancer rates was 9%, but the most common form of the disease fell an amazing 15% among women aged 50 to 69, the group most likely to use hormone supplements. During the same time frame, a study of one million women in the United Kingdom showed that women who took hormone pills were 20% more likely to develop ovarian cancer than women who had never used them.

The newly released studies prove to researches that initial drops in cancer rates were no fluke. And they confirm current advice to women who take hormone pills to combat the hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms: take the lowest dose possible for the shortest possible time.