July 26 2009 post: This morning I took on the task of going through some of my still unread (=for lack of time) e-mails, in particular, my “Science Daily” messages. So glad I did! I found one very interesting item (see http://tinyurl.com/mcac5k): a new study shows that women treating their symptoms of menopause with hormone replacement therapy could reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by taking, tadaaa!, curcumin.

The researchers found that curcumin delayed the first appearance, decreased incidence and reduced multiplicity of progestin-accelerated tumors in an animal model. Curcumin also prevented the appearance of gross morphological abnormalities in the mammary glands. It did this by blocking progestin’s increased production of VEGF (aha, an old nemesis of ours pops up…). The researchers believe that curcumin and other antiangiogenic substances could decrease or delay the risk of breast cancer associated with combined hormone replacement therapy. Holy puffins!

Menopause is a very complicated process…I admit to knowing very little about it, except the basics that I suppose every woman knows…but I realize that I must look more closely into this process at some point soon because I seem to have entered a premenopausal stage…even though I have had no unwelcome symptoms yet (hot flashes, e.g.). I must say, though, after reading this article, I feel much encouraged that perhaps my daily intake of curcumin will protect me in yet another way…a peachy thought!