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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Weight Guidelines Toughened for Obese Mothers-to-Be

The Institute of Medicine , the nation’s most influential medical advisory group, has updated its guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy for the first time since 1990. The revised recommendations, released May 28, which also include the first advice regarding exercise during pregnancy, reflect new data on prenatal health as well as several recent shifts in the obstetric landscape — pregnant women in the U.S. are now older, more likely to deliver multiple births and ethnically more diverse than they were 20 or 30 years ago.

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Want to live longer? Cut back on red meat

Burger lovers beware: People who eat red meat every day have a higher risk of dying over a 10-year period — mostly because of cardiovascular disease or cancer –than their peers who eat less red or processed meat, according to a new study of about half a million people.

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Women’s cancer risk may increase with just a few drinks

Attention, libation lovers: Middle-aged women who indulge in just a few alcohol-containing drinks each day may have a higher risk of cancer than those who drink less often, according to a report released Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Although moderate drinking — considered one drink a day for women, two drinks a day for men — is thought to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke versus both teetotaling and heavy drinking, the study highlights that alcohol has risks as well, and those risks increase in tandem with intake

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