The 5 Most Normal Fantasies of Menopause

 

Myth 1: Hormone replacement Causes Breast Cancer

 

The Women's Health Initiative of 2002 is to blame for this misinformation. It showed the following results in three arms representing 10,000 women in each:

 

• 30 cases of invasive breast cancer in the group using no HRT

• 38 cases of invasive breast cancer in the Premarin-Provera group (unnatural estrogen/progesterone)

• Less than 30 cases of invasive breast cancer for Premarin alone (unnatural estrogen)

The third arm of this study was not reported in the initial results, but it indicated the estrogen-alone group had a lower incidence of breast cancer than the other two groups, including the women on no hormones! This decreased incidence of breast cancer in the estrogen group persisted in follow-up studies 8 years afterward.

Conclusion: Estrogen does not "cause" breast cancer, but may accelerate its growth if cancer contains estrogen receptors.