Weight gain, particularly after menopause, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women, according to an article in the July 12 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
Background information in the article indicates that weight loss after menopause lowers circulating estrogen hormones in women, and because estrogen is directly related to breast cancer, weight loss is thought to decrease risk of the disease. Studies show that weight gain since early adulthood is associated with increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, particularly those not taking postmenopausal hormones. However, weight changes in middle-aged to older women (50 years and older) has been studied less extensively.
A. Heather Eliassen, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues analyzed data within the Nurses' Health Study to determine the association between weight change and the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women. The researchers assessed weight change for two different periods--since 18 years of age and since menopause. A total of 87,143 postmenopausal women (ages 30 to 55 years) were followed up for up to 26 years to analyze weight change since age 18. Weight change since menopause was assessed among 49,514 women (followed up for up to 24 years).