The Effect of Hormone Therapy on Breast Cancer
Women who take hormone therapy after menopause have an increased risk of breast cancer, but women who take hormone therapy and then get breast cancer are at lower risk of dying from the disease, according to a new study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas. "Hormone therapy seems to give you a particular type of cancer that is easier to treat," study author Sarah F. Marshall, a senior statistician at the University of California-Irvine, told HealthDay. "We found that women who took hormone therapy before their diagnosis were more likely to be diagnosed with estrogen receptor-positive cancer, as well as having breast cancers that were more favorable in other ways, [such as being] smaller and detected at an earlier stage." Because breast tumors that are estrogen-receptor positive rely on estrogen to grow, antiestrogen therapy helps treat the cancer, HealthDay reports. Researchers followed 2,800 postmenopausal women who developed breast cancer after starting the study in 1995 and 1996. They tracked those patients until the women's deaths or through the end of 2005.
Do you have a family history of breast cancer? U.S. News's Deborah Kotz listed seven things to consider. She also explained how to handle sex after breast cancer.
Why Women Are More Prone to Holiday Stress
About 46 percent of women are worried about having enough money to buy Christmas gifts, compared with 35 percent of men, according to a survey released last week. That goes along with the fact that women are more stressed than men over the economy in general, Deborah Kotz reports. Another new finding suggests that women are more prone to heart disease if they're raising kids or caring for an elderly parent who lives in their home. The study, published Friday in the journal Heart, was pretty shocking: Married women ages 40 to 59 who lived with children had twice the risk of developing heart disease as single women or those living only with their spouses. Adding an elderly parent to the mix tripled a woman's heart attack risk. Men, on the other hand, had no such increase in heart disease risk if they lived with kids, parents, or, heck, even their in-laws.
The Christmas season can be overwhelming, as families strive to provide a perfect holiday for their children. Earlier this year, U.S. News described how to be happy without being perfect. Also, find out how to avoid a holiday season of discontent.
Money Harmony: How Relationships Can Survive a Bad Economy
Couples bicker more about money than practically anything else. No surprise, then, that when money is tight, the battles can really heat up. U.S. News asked Olivia Mellan, a psychotherapist and couples communication expert specializing in money issues and stress management in turbulent times, how couples can best weather a financial downturn—or any money-related standoff. Mellan, of Washington, D.C., is the author of Money Harmony: Resolving Money Conflicts in Your Life and Relationships (Walker & Co., $14.95). Check out edited excerpts of Mellan's interview with U.S. News. Earlier, U.S. News explained how to manage your own money-related stress.
—January W. Payne
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