Ailments and Situations - Menopause (and Related Issues) - Long Term Concerns, Breast Cancer - Introduction

While estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) proves beneficial for many women, one of the most common concerns regarding this therapy is that of breast cancer. Some studies point to a direct correlation while others cite additional lifestyle factors such as carbohydrate intake. In any case, there does appear to be a relationship between ERT/HRT use and probability of breast cancer diagnosis. However, there are many factors that further influence this likelihood and all figures are relative to age, number of years on replacement therapy, dietary concerns, et cetera.

A high level of estrogen relative to progesterone greatly increases the probability of abnormal breast tissue growth. In this case, natural progesterone should be prescribed along with ERT to maintain balance.

For more information, see the dedicated section on Breast Cancer.