Study: Migraines lower breast cancer risk

A new study shows that women who suffer from migraines have a much smaller chance of developing breast cancer. As reported by Reuters, Dr. Christopher Li of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle believes that the correlation may have something to do with hormones. While, according to Li, women who have high levels of estrogen in their blood are more likely to develop breast cancer, women who have migraines tend to have "lower baseline estrogen."

"We found that, overall, women who had a history of migraines had a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who did not have a history of such headaches," Li said.

The study looked at two separate prior studies of 3,412 post-menopausal women in the Seattle area. Of that total, 1,938 were diagnosed with breast cancer, while 1,474 had no history of breast cancer.

Li added, "While these results need to be interpreted with caution, they point to a possible new factor that may be related to breast-cancer risk." This study's results appeared in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

For more:
- read this article in the Washington Post

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