Specimen from malignant pleural effusion in metastatic breast cancer

Estrogen, that amazing female hormone, is one of the things that makes us uniquely and beautifully women. Unfortunately, if you are an older woman who is overweight, that very estrogen circulating in your body can increase your risk for breast cancer. A study conducted by Women Veterans’ Comprehensive Health Center at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center looked at more than 287,000 post-menopausal women and came to the conclusion that a woman’s weight is directly related to her risk for breast cancer.

How Weight Affects Estrogen

Of the older women surveyed in this study, the ones who were considered overweight had a 10-35% increased risk of breast cancer than their thinner counterparts, and the risk just kept climbing related to the woman’s weight. The reason is that women who are above a healthy weight have more estrogen circulating in their bodies than women at a healthy weight, and these extra hormones are helping to promote tumor growth.

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Prescription Drugs apparently kill more than illegal drugs, according to a recent Florida study

It’s Friday night after work. You have to stop by your local pharmacy to pick up your prescription because you would rather spend your weekend doing more enjoyable things. When you arrive, there is a line of at least 10 people waiting. You stand there, toe tapping impatiently, checking your watch, thinking about meeting up with your friends or family later and feeling nothing but frustration at these crowds. Before you write the rush off as another busy Friday evening, consider that the busy nature of the pharmacy might not be due to everyone wanting to stand in line and stare at the back of someone else’s head, but an indicator of a dangerous and growing trend here in the United States.

If you’re like many of us, you have heard many horror stories about illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine, and how they lead to addiction, overdoses and sometimes death. Scary as illegal drugs may be, prescription drugs and their abuse are becoming even scarier. People are abusing drugs prescribed to them by their doctor, and many are not living to tell the tale.

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