Click here to read about some of the people we've helped.  We're here to help you, too. Get four essential health reports by joining our e-news community.

Four FREE health reports for you

Register now for our vital and insightful health updates, and get four free health reports to help you live more healthily.

First Name:Email:


Des mothers: breast cancer

Women who took diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent miscarriages during pregnancy in the Fifties and Sixties have a "statistically significant" increased risk of developing breast cancer (JAMA, 28 April 1993).

Researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health studied a group of 3029 women who had taken DES and an identical number who had not been exposed to the drug. They found 325 cases of breast cancer within the groups, 185 among the DES women and 140 among the unexposed women.

"The incidence rate of breast cancer per 100,000 woman years was 172.3 among exposed women and 134.1 among the unexposed," they concluded.

When other factors, such as age and age when pregnant were taken into account, the relative risk associated with DES exposure was 1.35 times that of those who were not exposed to the drug.

The study did not bear out earlier findings which suggested the risk increases over time.



WDDTY Blog Speak

Caffeine: risky during pregnancy - Coffee drinking can damage your baby even before you get pregnant, according to a Canadian study (JAMA, 22-29 December 1993). ...

Coffee ok during pregnancy - In the article by Harald Gaier on healthy pregnancies and deliveries (WDDTY, vol 11 no 9), what drew our attention was the reference to coffee and caf...

Acupuncture during pregnancy - If specific restrictions are observed, acupuncture can be an ideal therapeutic tool during pregnancy, labour and after birth. ...

Problems during pregnancy - There are a number of common conditions that often accompany pregnancy, many of which can be eased using non drug therapies. ...

Nsaid use increases risk of miscarriage - NSAIDs (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) taken during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage by up to seven times. ...

Combined hrt therapy increases risk of cancer - New data suggest that a combined oestrogen-proges-togen regime poses a greater risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women than oestrogen alone (JAM...

Miscarriage - The hidden causes - Although miscarriages are often blamed on 'tired eggs' or unknown causes, the real culprits are poor diet, environmental toxins and even the drugs to...

Soy: It can prevent breast cancer – in one group of women - Is soy good for you or not? This supposed super food has its champions, and an equal number of detractors, but it seems it can dramatically reduce th...