MWS Newsletter March 2021
We are grateful for the continued support of all our collaborators and study participants. We are pleased to announce continued funding from Cancer Research UK.
questionnaires
Over 40,000 participants completed our online questionnaire on the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on themselves and their families. We are aware that for many of our participants and their families, this has been a particularly challenging year. We are immensely grateful to all those participants who have filled out the questionnaire online and to all those who filled out our latest postal questionnaire.
participant panel
The first meeting of the Million Women Study Participant Panel was held in Oxford in October 2019. The panel members had a tour of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit and then discussed various aspects of the study and future plans. The next meeting of the panel will be held online in April 2021.
study progress
Physical activity reduces risk of lower limb and hip fractures
Using data from postmenopausal women in good health, we showed that women who did physical activities such as walking, yoga, participation in sports club activities, and gardening, reduced their risk of lower limb and hip fractures. Gardening was also associated with a lower risk of upper limb fractures but cycling had a higher risk.
Armstrong et al, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2020.
HRT and breast cancer
The Million Women Study team gathered data from 58 studies around the world, world, including the Million Women Study, to provide definitive evidence on the long term effects of taking HRT on the risk of breast cancer. Compared with women who had never taken HRT, women who started taking HRT after menopause had a significantly increased risk of invasive breast cancer. The longer women took HRT, the greater the risk. In women who stopped taking HRT, their risks of breast cancer were lower but remained elevated more than 10 years after stopping. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer, Lancet 2019.
Risk factors for dementia
We have published two reports on risk factors for dementia. Using nearly 20 years of data on participants, we found that obesity in middle-age increases the risk of dementia later in life, but also that engaging in physical and cognitive activities may not be effective in reducing the risk of dementia.
Floud et al, Neurology 2020; Floud et al, Lancet Public Health 2021.
Lack of sleep does not increase risk of breast cancer
Short sleep has been thought to increase risk of breast cancer through the effect of the circadian system on hormone production. This study was the largest prospective study to investigate this and showed that there was no association between sleep duration and breast cancer risk.
Wong et al, Sleep 2019.
For more of our recent papers, please visit the publications section of this website.
Please be reminded that participants in The Million Women Study are free to withdraw from the study at any time. Full details of how to do this, as well as details of how we use your data, are given on the opt out options webpage and in our privacy policy or you can contact us by e-mail or telephone.