Changes

:: Number 7 (33 of 39 studies discussed in the Lancet article) is misleading.  First of all, there were 53 studies discussed, not 39.  Interestingly, the 14 that are left out here are the ones where there are prospective data on whether the study subjects had abortions (as opposed to asking those diagnosed with breast cancer whether they ever had an abortion, which is considered more reliable, partly because many of the studies derived data on abortion from national registries in countries that mandate abortion reporting by law, and partly because self-reported data are collected much closer to the time of an abortion and are less subject to bias).  When the data from the 14 overlooked studies are summed, they show that for these studies, the risk of breast cancer is significantly ''less'' for those who had an abortion than for those who did not.  As for the 39 studies that are reported here, it is also misleading to say that 33 showed increased risk of breast cancer with abortion, because only one of those 33 actually shows a statistically significant risk.  This paper, in general, suggests that ''it is possible'' that induced abortion contributes to the risk for breast cancer, but it is far from conclusive, because it is possible that it is an artifact of the study design.  And misstating what was found is not an effective argument.  [[User:Murray|Murray]] 17:42, 22 March 2008 (EDT)

:: Number 7 (33 of 39 studies discussed in the Lancet article) is misleading.  First of all, there were 53 studies discussed, not 39.  Interestingly, the 14 that are left out here are the ones where there are prospective data on whether the study subjects had abortions (as opposed to asking those diagnosed with breast cancer whether they ever had an abortion, which is considered more reliable, partly because many of the studies derived data on abortion from national registries in countries that mandate abortion reporting by law, and partly because self-reported data are collected much closer to the time of an abortion and are less subject to bias).  When the data from the 14 overlooked studies are summed, they show that for these studies, the risk of breast cancer is significantly ''less'' for those who had an abortion than for those who did not.  As for the 39 studies that are reported here, it is also misleading to say that 33 showed increased risk of breast cancer with abortion, because only one of those 33 actually shows a statistically significant risk.  This paper, in general, suggests that ''it is possible'' that induced abortion contributes to the risk for breast cancer, but it is far from conclusive, because it is possible that it is an artifact of the study design.  And misstating what was found is not an effective argument.  [[User:Murray|Murray]] 17:42, 22 March 2008 (EDT)