Increased insulin levels in women after menopause contribute to an increased risk of breast cancer, according to US researchers.

Scientists conducted a large-scale study, in which 93 thousand. Women in the postmenopausal period. A few years later, the researchers took 1600 women out of the participants in the experiment: 835 of them developed breast cancer during this time, and 816 were selected as a control group and did not have breast cancer. The results of the study were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

At the beginning of the study and further in dynamics, scientists evaluated in all women the level of insulin on an empty stomach, the concentration of estradiol and the index of body mass index. As a result of the study, data were obtained that women with a higher insulin level (exceeding the norm) by 50% are more likely to have breast cancer.

The researchers also took into account the fact that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had an effect on insulin levels and noted that the above data were noted in the group of women who did not take HRT.

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