New findings add to the evidence that certain hormone supplements, particularly those combining
estrogen and testosterone, increase women’s risk of breast cancer, strokes, and heart attacks. This week’s Archives of Internal Medicine reports on a study that found post-menopausal women who took such pills more than doubled their risk of breast cancer, even taking other breast-cancer risk factors into account. The most common pill the women took was Estratest, which appears on a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy group’s “Worst Pills” list because of breast-cancer risk. Something to discuss with your health-care provider, if you are taking or considering hormone supplements.