Left handed women more likely to develope Breast Cancer

LEFT-HANDED women are more than twice as likely as right-handers to suffer from breast cancer before reaching menopause, Dutch scientists said today.

More than a million women are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide each year. Three-quarters of cases occur after menopause, which usually begins around the age of 50. Researchers at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht in the Netherlands speculate that there is a shared origin early in life for both left-handedness and developing breast cancer, possibly exposure to hormones in the womb. "Left handedness is associated with breast cancer, most specifically pre-menopausal breast cancer," said Cuno Uiterwaal, an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at the university.

He and his colleagues studied 12,000 healthy, middle-aged women born between 1932 and 1941 who were part of a breast screening program. The scientists determined their hand preference and followed up their medical history to see which women developed breast cancer.

"If we take pre-menopausal and post-menopausal breast cancer then there was a 40 per cent increased risk," Professor Uiterwaal said of left-handed women.

But when they spilt it further the scientists found most of the excess risk was in breast cancer before the menopause.


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Oh good, I'm breathing a sigh of relief at this moment.

Oh great, I am a leftie!

So I guess if there is a hormonal influence in the womb, it won't do me any good now to try and switch?

Hold my breath until I get through menopause?

I'm ambidextrous...does this mean I'm safe? I tend to do most of my writing left-handed. Well, happy Monday to me!

Well, there are some compensations....


There was a recent bit of research done - researchers wondered why there were any lefties left in the world - we're more likely to die earlier, more suceptible to some diseases - etc. Evolution should have done us in long ago. But it hasn't.

The researchers found some very fascinating things out - historically, lefties thrive in violent societies - if you have a bunch of battles, wars, people fighting each other - those societies have more than the average number of lefties, and the gene gets passed on down. Apparently, how it works is that a lefty is always more deadly to a right hander in a fight, because the righty is not used to fighting a lefty, but the lefty is quite used to fighting a righty. In a lot of cultures, a gentleman wears a sword on his right side, to establish that he's peaceful, it'll take him awhile to draw that sword, so he's probably not going to try to kill you - which is why all assasins were left handed - they could have a sword on the right side, and still quickly draw and kill you. Part of why words for left handedness often have something to do with the sinister.


So, don't worry about these diseases - just go out there and kill the researchers to remind them what we are here for! :croc: :dance: :dance: :dance: :crazy:



For more peaceful and rational societies, lefties also seem to have that knack of looking at problems from a different point of view that can be very good.

How flipping interesting!!!

My mother is an identical twin. She is right handed and the twin was left handed.

The twin was the "evil twin" and I don't joke here. Her husband called her "Lefty" and he thought she was fiesty - but she was dangerous. She tried to kill my sister and my dad. Aunt Leftie was volital. My mother had some of the same characteristics and personality disorders but certainly not to the extent of my aunt.

My aunt got breast cancer years before menopause and died of pancreatic cancer recently.

My mother has been cancer free and is 82.

Hmmm. I'm right handed. Whew!

Hmmmm, I'm a leftie...just had my last mammogram in April, clean. (I know they say they don't always catch it, but so far so good.)

Just a few more years 'til menopause, probably...so I'll be hoping and praying!