Originally published October 3 2005
Risk of breast cancer doubles for lefthanders, study says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Published online by the British Medical Journal, a study by a team of Netherlands researchers followed 12,000 women in their middle age and found that the relationship between left-handedness and cancer may relate to the amount of sex hormones a child is exposed to in utero, though the link is thin.
"Although this is an intriguing study, it doesn't give us enough evidence to link left-handedness with cancer.
LEFT-HANDED women are more at risk from breast cancer, according to new research published today.
A team in the Netherlands looked at the relationship between left or right-handedness and cases of breast cancer in more than 12,000 middle-aged women who were born between 1932 and 1941.
The researchers also took body measurements and assessed risk factors such as economic status, smoking habits, family history of breast cancer and reproductive background.
The researchers revealed that the origins of the link may lie in exposure to high levels of sex hormones in the womb.
Cancer specialist Doctor Petra Peeters, who led the research team, said: "Although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, our results support the hypothesis that left-handedness is related to increased risk of breast cancer."
The incidence of left-handedness within the UK population is around 10 per cent, with slightly fewer women than men favouring use of their left hand.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women in the UK, and each year there are over 41,000 new cases diagnosed.
In 2004, 1,096 people in Scotland died from the disease.
The cancer accounts for almost one in three of all cancer cases in women, while the lifetime risk for breast cancer in women is one in nine.
Emma Taggart, director of policy and campaigns at the UK charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "Women who are left-handed should not worry about these findings.
"It is important to remember that age is the single most important factor in influencing breast cancer risk, with 80 per cent of all breast cancers occurring in post-menopausal women.
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