Your Health

By Janice M. Horowitz

GOOD NEWS

ESTROGEN REPRIEVE Many women facing menopause consider hormone-replacement therapy but fear that the estrogen in HRT will increase their risk of breast cancer. The jury is still out, but here's some reassurance. A study of 37,000 women found little evidence that estrogen is linked to common types of cancers such as ductal carcinoma in situ (a cancer confined to a duct). It may, however, increase some uncommon forms--but they are slow growing and may be easily treatable.

SLUDGE REPORT Eye-opening news for coffee addicts: data on more than 45,000 men show that two or three cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of developing gallstones by 40%. Filtered, instant and espresso all seem to do the trick. But other caffeinated drinks, like tea and cola, don't. Researchers think coffee may help flush out the gallbladder and somehow alter bile fluid.

BAD NEWS

CALLING ALL GIRLS Though breast cancer is a disease that afflicts adult women, researchers say the risks for developing it start piling up as early as the preteen years. Doctors can't explain why, but they found that girls who are relatively lean at age 10 and those who grow very rapidly during adolescence have a significantly increased risk for the disease. What to do? Not much, but at least make sure your daughter is eating right and exercising.

PIERCING HEARTACHE There are lots of reasons to think twice about getting a body part pierced--not least of which is pain. But folks with congenital heart disease have an extra worry: for them, piercing raises the risk of developing a heart-valve infection. If you have congenital heart disease and can't resist a naval ring, be sure to ask for preventive antibiotics.

--By Janice M. Horowitz

Sources--Good News: (1 & 2) Journal of the American Medical Association (6/9/99); Bad News: Cancer (6/99); Journal of Adolescent Health (Spring '99)