1.   Again, estrogen appeared to lower the pain threshold and testosterone raised it.

2.   In most studies, however, estrogen appears to protect women against both heart disease and osteoporosis, the loss of minerals that makes bones brittle and weak.

3.   Knowing the risks of your family is important, because estrogen appears to protect against heart disease and osteoporosis.

4.   While estrogen would appear to be the logical link between bone mineral density and breast cancer, the researchers caution that there may be other factors.

5.   But estrogen also appears to promote scarring at wound sites, the researchers said.