Study: Hormone therapy increases risk of ovarian cancer

Women who use hormone therapy after menopause may be at a higher risk of ovarian cancer, and the risk remains elevated for up to two years after women stop taking estrogen, a new study says. What’s more, even a relatively short duration of hormone therapy — less than four years — is associated with a 30 to 40 percent higher risk of ovarian cancer in current users, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, experts say this may not be as scary as it sounds

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Massachusetts sues federal government over marriage law

Massachusetts sued the U.S. government on Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. “We’re taking this action today because, first, we believe that [the Defense of Marriage Act] directly interferes with Massachusetts’ long-standing sovereign authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents,” Attorney General Martha Coakley said Wednesday afternoon

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Why Marriage Matters

Around the time of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, I turned to my father at the dinner table one night and said, “It’s amazing, Dad — 50 years, and you never once had an affair. How do you account for that?” He replied simply, “I can’t drive.” Watching the governor of South Carolina cry like a little girl because his sexy e-mails got forwarded to his local newspaper, the State, made me wonder whether the real secret to a lasting marriage lies in limiting your means of escape

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Immigration and Marriage: Will Congress End the ‘Widow Penalty’?

It was bad enough that Natalia Goukassian, then 21, had to spend her honeymoon in June 2006 in West Palm Beach, Fla., helping her husband Tigran find alternative treatments for connective tissue sarcoma, an aggressive cancer, or that six months later, the Air Force–enlisted man, 21, succumbed to the disease. But as it turned out, her painful ordeal had only just begun.

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Berlusconi Faces Crisis After Allegation He Slept With ‘Escort’

By most modern democratic standards, Silvio Berlusconi’s wild 15-year political ride would seem closer than ever to crashing. The 72-year-old Prime Minister is facing a swirl of questions linked to his personal life, including the latest allegations that a high-paid escort stayed with him at his Rome residence the night of Nov. 4 as results were coming in of Barack Obama’s election victory.

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Reality TV stars Jon and Kate are divorcing

After 10 years of marriage, eight kids and a popular reality show documenting the ups-and-downs of life with two sets of multiples, Jon and Kate Gosselin are officially separating. The couple made the announcement on Monday’s episode of “Jon & Kate Plus 8.” “Kate and I have decided to separate,” Jon said during Monday’s broadcast. “It’s just not good for our kids to be arguing in front of our kids.” “I’m not very fond of the idea, personally,” Kate said.

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