This is good news for those at high risk of coronary heart disease . It's been known for years that Asian women consume much more soy than North American women . They also have lower rates of breast cancer. This has lead to speculation that increased consumption of soy products decreases the risk of breast malignancy. But there are conflicting reports.
Some research shows that women who take soy supplements have an increased growth of breast cells.
This worries Dr. Barry Goldin, an expert on plant estrogens, at Tufts University. He has studied what happens to post-menopausal women who have little estrogen of their own. This should be of concern to women who already have breast cancer. It should also trouble women who have the breast cancer gene and are at high risk of developing this malignancy. Other researchers, however, speculate that soy isoflavones actually fight breast cancer.