Research is often a slow, maddening search for answers where each new finding only seems to raise more questions.
This is the case with a story we told you about last month. It offers a good example of how difficult it can be to define a relationship between two events, or even prove a connection.
In this case, one event was a sudden drop in the use of hormone replacement therapy. The other, which followed, was a sharp drop in the breast cancer rate in the United States.
Many older women stopped taking hormones after a government warning in two thousand two about possible risks.
Last December a team of scientists reported that breast cancer rates fell in two thousand three. Then, last month, they reported that the breast cancer rate was still down in two thousand four. They suggested that the major cause was most likely the drop in hormone use.
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