My regrets over HRT I blame for my cancer

NEW ALERT OVER HRT LINKS TO BREAST CANCER

I WAS extremely interested to read about the major new study that has discovered a link between HRT and breast cancer (Mail). I was prescribed HRT following a hysterectomy when I was 49, and I am convinced it caused my breast cancer. I can’t describe how deeply I regret taking HRT. Yes, the menopause is not pleasant, but, for me, it was nowhere near as awful as having a mastectomy, medication, and ongoing lymphoedema causing swelling in my arm after the removal of lymph glands. If enough research had gone into HRT before I was prescribed it, I could have been told of the risks. However, I am still here to tell the tale, and for that I am extremely thankful.

DELIA BENNETT, Shepshed, Leics. FOR thousands of years, women have gone through the menopause as a natural part of getting older. When did it become an illness requiring drugs supplied by the NHS?

Name and address supplied. FOLLOWING the latest study, we are told six in every 100 women not taking HRT will develop breast cancer. Further, we are told eight in every 100 women who do take HRT will develop breast cancer. Would the two additional women in the HRT group have developed cancer anyway due to other issues that raise the risk of developing the disease, such as being overweight, smoking, drinking alcohol or never having breastfed? I am more worried about the mortality risk of driving up the M6 than taking HRT long-term.

MARY MIDDLETON, Reading, Berks. Concern: Delia Bennett, top. Above: How the Mail reported the story