Thoughts.com

A popular class of bone-building drugs known as bisphosphonates appear to significantly reduce women's risk of breast cancer, according to research presented Thursday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

According to an ABC report, the first study from the Women's Health Initiative found that women who used bisphosphonates had 32 percent fewer cases of invasive breast cancer. The second, from a northern Israel study, found that women who used bisphosphonates for more than five years also had a 29 percent reduced risk of post-menopausal breast cancer.

Bisphophonates are drugs that can slow or stop the bone dissolving process that leads to osteoporosis. Popular examples of the medicines are drugs such as Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel and Reclast.

 According to an AP report, health officials say winter flu is just starting to show up in the U.S. while swine flu infections continue to wane.

Except for deaths, most indicators of pandemic H1N1 influenza activity continued to decline last week, although all remained higher than normal for this time of year, according to new figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this morning.

The increase in deaths linked to the disease is caused by a lag in reporting, and experts believe that deaths are also on the wane.

Swine flu activity is reported to be widespread in 14 states down from 25 during Thanksgiving week. Almost all the influenza viruses isolated and identified continue to be swine flu rather than seasonal viruses.

Visits to doctors for influenza-like illnesses declined for the sixth straight week, following four weeks of sharp increases. Influenza-related hospitalizations have also declined again, but remain higher than expected for this time of year. Hospitalization rates continue to be highest in children up to 4 years old.