Hormones and Breast Cancer

According to an article in Good Housekeeping October 2009 issue, if you were on hormones and now worry about getting breast cancer, there is a new report that is reassuring: Once you stop taking the estrogen-progestin drugs, your risk of the disease drops 28 percent in the first year, an analysis from the Women's Health Initiative found. Even better news is after just two years off the hormones, your chances of breast cancer go back to normal or what they would have been if you had never take the drug.

You might want to have your vitamin D levels checked. New studies suggest women with higher levels are less likely to develop breast cancer and, it if they do, the greater D reduces the chances of a recurrence. How much should you take? Based on you test, enough to achieve a blood level of over 40 nanograms per milliliter, says Qamar Khan, M.D., of the University of Kansas Medical Center. He advises that you take a supplement of 800 to 1,000 IU a day.


Ladies, October is "Breast Cancer Awareness Month". Please make an appointment to get a mammogram today and take a girl friend with you while you're at it!