Migraines Decrease Risk of Breast Cancer? Maybe Not.

What an important distinction to make, that being more sensitive to hormonal fluctuations is not equal to having overall lower levels of the hormones. It makes me think that researchers may not really know how to study us, if we are more sensitive to a variety of factors than the standard population. Is there an approved protocol for research, to determine 1) who is a Migraineur for study purposes, and 2) how to compensate for Migraineurs' enhanced reactions to certain factors comparable to the general population?

Ah - once again the tricky statistical dance.  The challenge is to ask the multi-facetted question correctly, and run the cold data to get a scientific one.  How quickly some folks are to publish with partial information, and provide an if/then therefore announcement. It is so difficult to compare the hormonal/health care/lifestyle histories of women with this neurological disease. Does this include the women who did not take ERT because their physicians felt it would be a stroke risk? While it would be nice find to discover specifically why some percentage of older female migraineurs are having statistically significantly less incidences of estrogen sensitive breast cancer, is there also, conversely, any potential for finding relief or cure to migraine disease? I am personally concerned that all female migraineurs continue to get regular breast exams and not discontinue them based on this one report.  

I have been a migraine sufferer since 16. At the age of 39 I was diagnosed an invasive duct carcinoma. Thanks God, I am a breast cancer survivor, and my migraines did not protect me. My cancer was not hormonal dependent though. During chemo teartment and radiation I had the worst ever migraines. I did not have period for 1 year, and then for five years it was irregular, sometimes skipping several months. This did not stop my migraines at all, on the contrary, migraines became worse, so in my particular case I do not see much correlation between hormones, breast cancer, and migraines. Of course, everyone's body is individual. 30% risk reduction (if this is true!) is just statistics, which might not affect some particular person.