The Estrogen And Breast Cancer Controversy

contraceptive pillEstrogen, the female hormone has often been blamed for causing breast cancer and the reason that is often cited for this is that estrogen is a female hormone, i.e. occurring more in women’s bodies than men, and the fact that far more women develop the cancer than do men (one man develops breast cancer as against every one hundred women who do so).

It is suggested that since so little is known about what causes breast cancer medical practitioners have been quick to assign blame to a source that does seem rather convenient; however many in the medical community are far from convinced.

It is rather short sighted to paint estrogen the villain for breast health, particularly when estrogen is a highly beneficial hormone.

The contraceptive pill and its estrogen content have also been blamed for higher incidences of certain cancers.

However many physicians are skeptical of blaming estrogen for the incidence of breast cancer simply because there is an inverse relation between estrogen production within the body and risk of cancer in terms of a woman’s age: as women grow older they produce less estrogen however their cancer risk also rises with age, so for these reasons and others estrogen being a cause for cancer is treated with skepticism by many.