Exercise and Breast Cancer – The Positive Link!

It’s not news that exercise is extremely good for you in many ways, including helping you lose weight, feel physically fit, and sleep better. Physical activity is also known to reduce the risks of getting various diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. What is a bit more interesting, is that exercise has recently been found in various studies to reduce the risk of various cancers like lung cancer, prostate cancer, and endometrial cancer (uterus lining).

The positive link

Now a new positive link has been found between exercise and breast cancer. Officially it has not yet been proven to decrease breast cancer risks, but there is some evidence that exercise can help protect against it. Experts claim that this is because the continuous exposure to estrogen women are normally exposed to is lowered by exercise. It is precisely the estrogen that leads to the spreading of cancer, so lowering it assists in breast cancer prevention.

Exercise and reduce the risk

The great thing about exercise and breast cancer is that it can work together with weight control. At the Seattle Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Anne McTiernan conducted a study where the women who did the most long-term exercise showed a decrease of 22% in the likelihood of getting breast cancer over their lifetime. This is certainly good news for breast cancer prevention.

It’s never too late

According to a various researchers, the risk of breast cancer can be reduced by women of all ages just by doing regular exercise. A new study involving more than 74,000 women, conducted in the U.S., has demonstrated that it can never be late to start an exercise program. Even if you are post-menopausal, the risk of breast cancer can be reduced by exercising. The exercise that was found to be the most effective was moderately vigorous, such as walking, obese, and cycling, performed five times a week.

Researchers have also found that women who are especially prone to developing breast cancer may do themselves a favor by doing regular physical activity, since their risks are especially decreased. Such women include those who have breast cancer in their family history or those undergoing hormone replacement therapy.

Overweight women less likely to benefit.

Researchers also point out an important correlation between weight and reducing the risks of breast cancer. Women whose weight is at a normal, or who are slightly overweight will benefit the most from exercise to reduce breast cancer. However, researchers claim that studies did not show a risk reduction of breast cancer in women who are overweight or obese. This gives a double imperative to shed those pounds.

Don’t be the one in two who does nothing!

Despite the obvious health benefits that exercise brings, studies show that over half of all Americans never perform any physical activity. These stats are alarming and must change. If you don’t do it for breast cancer, do it for the countless many other ailments you can help avoid.

For more information, go to:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/physicalactivity
www.breastcancer.org

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.