Seattle based researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center say women who are suffering from migraines are at least 30 percent less likely to be affected by breast cancer.
According to them, this may be due to the changes in the estrogen levels. Risk of breast cancer is enhanced with higher levels of estrogen. The level of this hormone reduces in those who suffer from migraines thus reducing the risk of contracting cancer of the breast.
When hormone levels become low or starts fluctuating, it results in the condition called migraine in women according to Dr.Christopher I.Li, an epidemiologist leading the research.
He explained that migraines stop during pregnancy due to higher levels of estrogen. The research report was published in the November month issue of the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & amp Prevention. However, a lot of people are skeptical regarding Li’s theory.
The research was conducted on 3,412 post menopausal women. 1474 of them did not suffer from breast cancer while 1938 of them had been diagnosed with the disease. Information regarding migraine was also collected from these women.
After compiling and studying the data, the pattern of a 30% reduced breast cancer risk was detected in women who had been suffering from migraines. The reason for this has to be determined and a lot of work has to be done towards this, said Li. He went on to say that studying in detail about the working mechanics of migraine will give us more insight and understanding on the possibility of reducing breast cancer risk in women.
