Friday, September 11, 2009

Breast Cancer

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Breast Cancer

Diabetes, Estrogen and Breast Cancer

Posted: 10 Sep 2009 08:00 PM PDT

Estrogen regulates the growth of the mammary glands, and its function is mediated by receptors that allow certain elements to absorb estrogen. The relationship between steroid hormones and postmenopausal women has been assessed in at least fourteen studies over the last twenty years, and most of them have provided strong evidence between estrogen and cancer. This link is harder to assess in menopausal women because of the fluctuating levels of estrogen in their system because they are still having periods. Further medical research is now investigating the role of insulin resistance on estrogen.

In 1976 a longitudinal study of 116,488 female nurses who were aged between thirty and fifty five and cancer free. They were observed until 1996 for both the development of diabetes and breast cancer, both diseases had to have been substantiated by both pathology reports and independent medical records. 6,220 women had developed type 2 diabetes during that period and 5,189 had breast cancer. This study concluded that the association was predominant among women with estrogen receptor-positive cancer and that especially in post menopausal woman but not in menopausal women. It concluded also those women who had developed middle aged diabetes had a higher risk of developing this irrespective of the risk or non risk factors such as age, genetic predisposition , obesity, alcohol consumption and levels of physical activity. Further medical studies need to assess breast cancer according to hormone receptors to estrogen so that we can better understand the influence of insulin resistance on estrogen activity.

It seems that taking into account all medical studies in a meta analysis of the results illustrate that diabetic women have a sixteen percent higher chance of developing breast cancer than women who are not diabetic or who have not got insulin resistance which can lead to diabetes. This risk is most evident after the menopause. Quite how diabetes may alter the hormones in women is not known but there may be a relationship between the female sex hormones estrogen and insulin.

On the other hand it may just be the fact that the risks for both diseases are similar - lack of exercise, an excess of processed food, obesity, lack of fresh vegetables and anti oxidants and obesity. One thing is for certain, if there is a link the number of diabetics is rising exponentially and the number of women who are more at risk of breast cancer will also rise. In general it is a Western lifestyle that has been associated with rising levels of obesity and diabetes and also dropping levels of insulin production. However as the world becomes richer the developing world are recoding alarming increases in diabetes and if there is a sixteen percent increase in the risk of post menopausal women diabetics getting this killer disease the worlds incidence of breast cancer can only rise.
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