Drinking milk linked to lower breast cancer risk

[Guest guest]

Drinking milk linked to lower breast cancer risk

NEW YORK, Sep 21 (Reuters Health) - While women may not be surprised to hear

that drinking milk is good for their health, researchers in Norway now

report that milk consumption appears to be associated with a lower risk of

developing breast cancer before menopause.

To assess the relationship between childhood and adult consumption of milk

and breast cancer incidence, Dr. Anette Hjartaker of the University of Oslo

and colleagues studied 48,844 premenopausal Norwegian women. Their findings

are published in the September 15th issue of the International Journal of

Cancer.

The investigators note that 317 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed during

an average follow-up period of 6.2 years. Questionnaires were used to obtain

information on milk consumption.

Hjartaker's group found that childhood milk consumption was associated with

a lower risk of subsequent breast cancer among women aged 34 to 39, but not

among women aged 40 to 49 years.

After adjusting for age, reproductive and hormonal factors, body mass index,

education, physical activity and alcohol consumption, the researchers also

observed a negative association between adult milk consumption and breast

cancer incidence.

Women who drank more than three glasses of milk per day were roughly half as

likely to develop breast cancer as women who did not drink milk. The type of

milk the women drank and its milk fat content did not appear to have any

association with breast cancer risk, the authors point out.

When the investigators combined childhood and adult milk consumption, they

saw a clear negative trend in the incidence of premenopausal breast cancer

with increasing milk consumption.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer 2001;93:888-893.