Hormone Use Intensifies Breast Cancer

A new study claims that menopause hormone supplements have been found to not only increase the risk of breast cancer, but also to make that cancer much more aggressive. The study, published by the Journal of American Medicine, urges women to stop using hormone therapies such as Prempro after a year or two, although some doctors had previously believed it was safe to keep taking the drugs for four or five years. “I know some people have to take it because they can’t function, but the message now is that you really should try to stop after a year or two,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr. Rowan T. Chlebowski. Doctors and women had previously believed that hormone therapy helped decrease the risk of heart disease, but since a 2002 study actually proved the opposite, the number of women taking hormone replacements has fallen by half. The breast cancer rate has significantly dropped since then.