Wednesday, March 24, 2010
It is thought the painkillers reduce levels of the female hormone oestrogen in the system which can fuel certain forms of cancer. A team from Harvard investigated 740 women and found that those who took painkillers for 15 days per month had on average, oestrogen levels 10 per cent lower, than non-users.
The reduction was 12 percent to 15 percent, depending on which estrogen form was evaluated. All the women in the study had been through the menopause. The results are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The results suggest that among postmenopausal women, regular users of aspirin and other analgesics may have lower oestrogen levels than non-users.
Exactly painkillers lower estrogen levels not certain, one hypothesis is that the painkillers inhibit the expression of an enzyme, aromatase that converts testosterone to a form of estrogen. The data is very strong linking lower estrogen levels to lower risk of breast cancer.
Further studies were established if how much the reduced levels of oestrogen translated into a reduced risk of breast or ovarian cancer. Although the overall risks and benefits would need to be weighed, analgesics could be implemented as a chemopreventive and may decrease the risk of several cancers.
The reduction was 12 percent to 15 percent, depending on which estrogen form was evaluated. All the women in the study had been through the menopause. The results are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The results suggest that among postmenopausal women, regular users of aspirin and other analgesics may have lower oestrogen levels than non-users.
Exactly painkillers lower estrogen levels not certain, one hypothesis is that the painkillers inhibit the expression of an enzyme, aromatase that converts testosterone to a form of estrogen. The data is very strong linking lower estrogen levels to lower risk of breast cancer.
Further studies were established if how much the reduced levels of oestrogen translated into a reduced risk of breast or ovarian cancer. Although the overall risks and benefits would need to be weighed, analgesics could be implemented as a chemopreventive and may decrease the risk of several cancers.
posted by emedinfo
@10:52 PM
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