Pregnancy tips Big Babies and Breast Cancer Risk

I found this interesting article about how babies who are larger at birth may have a higher risk of breast cancer. It sounds like the risk is small and more study may be needed but it's interesting how much of our health may be determined even before birth. Read more:


Big Babies At Higher Risk Of Breast Cancer (www.newscientist.com)

From the article:

Big baby girls are likelier to develop breast cancer as adults than average-sized infants, according to a study of more than 22,000 women with the disease.

A 500-gram increase in birthweight increases a child's risk of developing breast cancer by 7%, while a 2-centimetre increase in height boosts the odds by 10%, says Isabel dos Santos Silva, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who headed the international study.

She and colleagues reanalysed data from dozens of clinical studies performed over the last 20 years.

Many of these hinted at a connection between birth size and breast tumours, but few of the studies included enough patients to determine whether the link was real or a statistical fluke, as well as the magnitude of the connection..