Breast cancer is a cancer type that emerges from breast tissue and cells. The cancer usually begins from the milk ducts’ inner lining or lobules supplying milk. Cancerous tumors have been known to spread to other body parts. Most cases of breast cancer occur in women. It is thus evident that breast cancer is one of the common invasive types of cancer in women globally. Sixteen percent of all female cancers are accounted for by breast cancer. The rates of cancer are higher in developed countries than the developing countries. The National Cancer Institute estimated that in the United States, 232,340 female breast cancers are reported annually.
Folate, a vitamin B present in foods like green vegetables has been found to lower the risk of breast cancer. This is according to an analysis conducted by Martha Schrubsole and her colleagues from Epidemiology Center (Tennessee, USA).In the study, data from 72, 861 participants aged between 40 and 70 was analyzed. The data was collected from Shanghai Women’s Health Study. Martha and her team analyzed the probable links between folate, vitamin B6 and B12 and niacin intake and breast cancer incidence. There were 718 breast cancer cases diagnosed during the course of the study. While no link was found between breast cancer risk and intakes of vitamin B6 and B12, research observed that intake of folate minimized breast cancer risk. The minimization effect was limited to women who had reached menopause. Specific data indicated that taking 404 micrograms of folate daily lowered the risk of breast cancer by 42%. Therefore, the conclusion reached by the study was that higher folate intake for menopausal women were linked to a lowered risk of breast cancer.
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