Commissioned by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Institute of Medicine released earlier this week its latest findings regarding the environment's impact on breast cancer. To be clear, they defined the "environment" a bit more broadly than you and I might typically do. In fact, they looked at the evidence regarding anything non-genetic in nature.
Turning against the current tide of research proclaiming that environmental chemicals are increasing our risk for cancer, the IOM concluded that while animal research is supportive, no clear cut cause & effect relationship has yet been established between environmental chemicals and breast cancer, just an associative link. And as you all remember, correlation does not imply causation.
On the other hand, the IOM came away convinced that women do have some control over their breast cancer risk. They concluded that poor diet, more than moderate alcohol consumption & lack of exercise (all leading to weight gain), active/passive smoking, medical radiation, eg CT scans but not mammograms, and hormone therapy, can increase one's breast cancer risk.
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