Originally published October 20 2005
Developmental patterns in women may predict breast cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study of 117,000 women in Denmark determined that women who were heavy at birth but lean in adolescence were at a greater risk of developing breast cancer.
The way a girl grows during adolescence and even in the womb may play an important, if murky, role in her risk of breast cancer later in life, a study suggests.
"Something very early on in life plays a role in risk of breast cancer," said lead researcher Dr. Mads Melbye, professor of epidemiology at the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen.
"No one knows really what," he said, but theories include differences in levels of hormones that influence growth and genetic variations that dictate people's size.
Most studies of women have found that tall ones have an increased risk of breast cancer, that heavy ones have a higher risk of the disease after menopause, and that lean ones have a higher risk before menopause and a reduced risk after.
Babies who weighed 8.8 pounds at birth had a 17 percent higher risk of later breast cancer than ones who were only 5 1/2 pounds.
The lower a girl's body mass index - a measure of weight relative to height - at age 14, the higher her risk of breast cancer, echoing findings about the risk in premenopausal women.
He said factors that influence initial development of breast tissue in the womb and how early a girl's breasts develop, as well as what a pregnant woman eats and drinks and her daughter's diet during childhood, appear to affect the risk of breast cancer.
One surprise was that, after adjusting for the other risk factors, the researchers found that the age at which a girl began menstruating did not influence her risk of breast cancer.
Hait and Dr. Yelena Novik, a breast cancer specialist at New York University Cancer Center said the study was particularly strong because of the huge number of girls studied and the detailed school and adult health records available in Denmark.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml