Post menopausal women should get their insulin levels done

19 July, 2012

Women after menopause should ensure that they get their levels of insulin in the body checked as such women after menopause have a tendency to develop breast cancer.

POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN should try to keep level of insulin at required levels via weight loss, exercising regularly and other wyas. This is because after menolause women with high insulin levels are at a greater risk of contracting breast cancer.

As per a report published in the International Journal of Cancer from Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York City, there is a strong association between elevated insulin levels in the blood and increased risk of breast cancer. The researchers examined data on 5,450 women who took part in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) and found that women with insulin levels in the highest third were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as women in the bottom third.

The linking of high insulin levels and occurrence of breast cancer was seen stronger for women who were thinner than for women who are obese - who tend to have elevated insulin levels. This finding is potentially important because it indicates that, in post-menopausal women, insulin may be a risk factor for breast cancer that is independent of obesity.