Santé Magazine
Salute Magazine
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Moms hit the gym, and take your daughters with you!
There may be a new reason to keep physical education classes in schools and a new driving factor for women to hit the gym. New research has shown that physical activities help to reduce breast cancer risks in women. Researchers found that women between the ages of 12 and 35 who exercised regularly may reduce their risk of the disease by 23 percent.
A prospective survey, funded by the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, was conducted involving approximately 65,000 pre-menopausal women, for the Nurse Health Study II. The survey involved researchers with Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis and Harvard University in Boston. For the survey, the women explained their physical activities performed from age 12 to present. The survey results found that women who walked 13 hours a week or ran for 3.25 hours had a 23 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer before menopause than those women who were less active. Five hundred and fifty women of the roughly 65,000 enrolled in the survey developed breast cancer before menopause within six years. The study has been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on May 13.
There are many factors that increase a woman's odds of developing breast cancer and many of those, such as, beginning menstruation early, the time when menopause occurs and family history are uncontrollable. However, there are several factors that can be controlled and can help to prevent breast cancer such as exercise, alcohol use, body weight, and taking hormones.
Breast cancer deaths have declined nationally in recent years, possibly as a result of early detection and diagnosis. It is still the second leading cause of death of women (following lung cancer in the number one spot). All cancer risks increase with age. A 30-year-old women over a 10-year period has a 1 in 234 chance developing breast cancer, but at 60 that chance has increased to 1 in 28.
Heather Spencer Feigelson, of the American Cancer Society, states that, "breast cancer is a disease of how much estrogen one has in their body." Several factors that effect estrogen levels are alcohol, physical activity and hormone pills. There have also been studies published, such as the one published in the Journal of American Association for Cancer Research, that reveal breast cancer in more aggressive in overweight women and aids in diminishing their survival chances. Manish Gupta, an oncologist with Baylor Medical Center in Plano explains this by stating, "there seems to be an increase in production of estrogen and that's what's driving the cancer itself." She also explained that when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and her Body Mass Index exceeds 30 then there is a diet plan implemented as part of her treatment. The study evaluated 606 women with breast cancer and over a 10-year period obese women survival rate was only 42.7 percent, but it increased to 56.5 percent in non-obese women.
Exercise! It not only helps your physical well being, it has also been found to help ward off breast cancer. Studies found that even if you were a bookworm growing up it is never too late to start exercising. One researcher found that two hours of walking a day prevented a quarter of cases of breast cancer. Walk to the mailbox, walk to your neighbor's rather than drive, don't park at the nearest parking spot, and take the stairs when possible. Find ways to walk or exercise during your normal daily activities. It could help you in more ways that you realize.
