Elevated insulin linked to increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women.Byline: ANI Washington, July 10 (ANI): A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) is a graduate school of Yeshiva University. It is a private medical school located in the Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus of Yeshiva University in the Morris Park of Yeshiva University Yeshiva University, in New York City; mainly coeducational; begun 1886 as Yeshiva Eitz Chaim, a Jewish theological seminary, chartered 1928 as Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Yeshiva College; renamed 1945. has shown that elevated insulin levels in the blood could raise the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal post·men·o·paus·al adj. Of or occurring in the time following menopause. postmenopausal Change of life Gynecology adjective Referring to the time in ♀ when menstrual periods stop for ≥ 1 yr women. Increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women has previously been linked to obesity and diabetes. Both conditions involve insulin resistance Insulin Resistance Definition Insulin resistance is not a disease as such but rather a state or condition in which a person's body tissues have a lowered level of response to insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps to regulate the level , which causes increases in circulating levels of insulin. Since insulin is known to promote cell division and enhance breast tumour tumour or neoplasm Mass of abnormal tissue that arises from normal cells, has no useful function, and tends to grow. Cell abnormalities may include increased size or number or loss of characteristics that differentiate their tissue of origin. growth in animal models, the Einstein scientists reasoned that relatively high insulin levels might contribute to breast cancer risk in women. "Up to now, only a few studies have directly investigated whether insulin levels are associated with breast cancer risk, and those studies have yielded conflicting results," says Geoffrey Kabat, Ph.D., senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at Einstein and the lead author of the paper. "Those other studies were based on just a single baseline measurement of insulin, while our study involved analyzing repeated measurements of insulin taken over several years - which provides a more accurate picture of the possible association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk," Kabat added. In the new study, Dr. Kabat and his colleagues analyzed data on 5,450 women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Women's Health Initiative A 15-yr, $628 million project involving 1. An observational study of the health habits and medical Hx of ±100,000 ♀ 2. , a large multicenter study investigating the influence of a number of factors on women's health Women's Health Definition Women's health is the effect of gender on disease and health that encompasses a broad range of biological and psychosocial issues. . Most of the women had participated in the clinical trial portion of the study and provided fasting blood samples at the start of the study (i.e., at baseline) and then at years one, three and six. The remaining women, who were enrolled in a separate "observational" component of the study, provided fasting blood samples at baseline and at year three of the study. Among all these women, 190 cases of breast cancer were identified over eight years of follow-up. The results showed a strong association between elevated insulin levels and increased risk for breast cancer. "This finding is potentially important because it indicates that, in postmenopausal women, insulin may be a risk factor for breast cancer that is independent of obesity," Dr. Kabat said. Their findings are published in the online version of the International Journal of Cancer. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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