Breast research has left medicos and researchers bewildered where they are all trying to control this disease by ruling out the potential risk factors. The fact that its one of the most common cancers in women has resulted in the disease getting extra attention from medicos worldwide, Lately, researches have made a new finding regarding soy chemicals. A per this finding, women who consume more isoflavone containing soy products decrease their chances of developing invasive breast cancer. However, it was also found that hormone replacement therapy may increase the chances of women developing ovarian cancer.

Study

A research consisting of 683 breast cancer patient and 611 healthy volunteer was conducted to study the effects of consumption of soy products containing isoflavones. These are organic compounds that are found only in certain foods and are rich in antioxidants which are said to decrease the risk of breast cancer. The study showed that women who were consuming isoflavones had 30 % less chances of developing an invasive tumor.

As per the data, it was revealed that

• Premenopausal women who consumed the highest amount of isoflavones were at 30 % less risk of developing stage I disease, 70 % less chances of having a tumor larger that 2 centimeters and a 60 % less chance of having stage 2 breast cancer.
• In postmenopausal women, the reports were not the same.
• Eating isoflavones helped the patients to react better to breast cancer therapies, increasing their chances of recovery.

It was observed during the study that 75 % of these subjects had never eaten soy at all. However, isoflavones are also found in beans, cooked cereal, potato chips, coffee, cookies and cake, due to which the researchers concluded that all women had consumed in once in their life time, in one form or the other.
In the same finding, the researchers concluded that hormone research therapy can increase the chances of breast cancer. Irrespective of the mode of treatment (pill, patch or cream) women were became more prone breast cancer.

Detecting the earliest signs of breast cancer

Breast cancer, if detected at any early stage can not only save lives but also helps to decrease the chances of going for a mastectomy. To make this happen, it is important that women conduct regular self examinations on monthly bases to detect any painless lumps or external changes. Women in their middle age should have annual screenings of their breasts to detect signs while those who have reached menopause should get one done every six months, as the risk increases with age.

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