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Natural Awakenings National

Hot Flashes Signal Good News: Bless those "Heat Waves"

Women who have experienced hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms may have as much as a 50 percent lower risk of developing the most common forms of breast cancer than postmenopausal women who have never had such symptoms, according to a new study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Commenting on the study, breast cancer Oncologist Dr. Stefan Gluck, of the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, observes that the reduction in risk evidently linked to a natural decrease in estrogen is substantial. “At age 50, a woman has on average, a two percent risk of getting breast cancer; so if she experiences menopausal symptoms, the risk is suddenly only one percent,” he says.

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