In Postmenopausal Women, Weight Gain Equals Increased Risk of Breast Cancer

According to an article published in the 12th July issue of JAMA, weight gain after menopause is linked to increased risk of breast cancer in women.

Weight loss after menopause is said to lower circulating estrogen hormones in women. Estrogen is directly related to breast cancer. Therefore weight loss (low estrogen) is thought to decrease risk of the disease.

“These data suggest that weight gain during adult life, specifically since menopause, increases the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women, whereas weight loss after menopause is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer,” the authors write. “Women should be advised to avoid weight gain both before and after menopause to decrease their postmenopausal breast cancer risk. (JAMA. 2006; 296: 193 – 201.)

Previous studies have shown that weight gain since early adulthood is associated with increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, especially those not taking postmenopausal hormones.

But weight changes in middle-aged to older women (50 years and above) has not been closely studied, until this study headed by A. Heather Eliassen, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston that analyzed data within the Nurses’ Health Study in order to determine the association between weight change and the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women.