加载中…女性更年期症状明显者患乳腺癌的风险较低
(2011-01-30 20:35:30)
标签：
保健更年期乳腺癌健康 |
分类： 健康贴士 |
【健康新闻】来自西雅图的研究人员所完成的课题表明，被潮红等更年期症状所困扰的女性之乳腺癌的发病率较没有明显更年期症状者低百分之五十，或许这对更年期症状较明显的女性是一个好消息。
研究人员对1437名绝经后的妇女进行问卷调查发现，其中共有988人被诊断为乳腺癌，进一步分析发现具有显著潮红的女性患乳腺癌的风险非常低。
THURSDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Here is some good news for women ever bothered by hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms: Your risk for breast cancer may be reduced as much as 50 percent, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle report.
"We know that hormones are important to breast cancer risk, and we also know that menopausal symptoms occur primarily because of changes in hormones that women experience as they go through menopause," said lead author and breast cancer epidemiologist Dr. Christopher I. Li.
"If we can confirm this finding, it may be somewhat of a silver lining for women who experience menopausal symptoms, because they can often really reduce a woman quality of life," he said.
The women, who were between 55 and 74 years old, were asked about menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, irregular or heavy menstrual bleeding, depression and anxiety.
The researchers found that women who had the most hot flashes had a very low risk of developing breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women.
In fact, for women with the most severe menopausal symptoms, the relative risk of developing either of the two most common breast cancers -- invasive ductal and invasive lobular carcinoma -- was lowered an average of 50 percent, compared to women who reported no menopausal symptoms.
In 2002, a major U.S. study on hormone replacement therapy (estrogen and progestin) was halted early because of an increased risk in breast cancer risk for the women taking the hormones. Li said that since it is known that estrogen and progesterone play a role in breast cancer, reduction of these hormones, which trigger the most severe menopausal symptoms, might be protective, Li said.
Moreover, the association between menopausal symptoms and the risk for breast cancer remained even after taking into account other factors, such as weight and use of hormone replacement therapy, Li noted.
"These findings tell us more about what may cause or prevent breast cancer," Li said. "We certainly would not go around inducing menopausal symptoms to reduce breast cancer risk. But if we can better understand the underlying biological mechanisms, that could help in developing prevention strategies," he said.
Breast cancer oncologist Dr. Stefan Gluck, a professor at the University of Miamis Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said this study "is another small, but important piece in our mosaic in understanding breast cancer."
The study confirms the suspicion that high levels of estrogen increase the risk of breast cancer, he added. "But we did not have proof that if [women] had less estrogen they have less breast cancer."
The reduction in risk is substantial, Gluck said. "At age 50 a woman has, on average, a 2 percent risk of getting breast cancer, so if she experiences menopausal symptoms the risk is suddenly only 1 percent," he said.
Similarly, an 80-year-old woman has a 14 percent risk of developing breast cancer, Gluck said. If she had menopausal symptoms, her risk is cut to only 7 percent, he noted.
"If you have menopausal symptoms, understand it is a natural process and it might reduce the risk of breast cancer," Gluck said. "So, it is something biologically good."
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