Exercise might lower breast cancer risk

Women who regularly engage in strenuous physical activity might have a lower risk of developing both invasive breast cancer and early-stage breast cancer than women who do not. This information is according to a report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association.

“Few established risk factors for breast cancer are easily modifiable,” states the article. Physical activity has been associated with breast cancer risk and may be one of the few risk factors that women can control.

The study included 110,599 women age 20 to 79 who were part of the California Teachers Study, established in 1995 and 1996. At the beginning of the study, the women were asked about their average participation in moderate (such as brisk walking, golf or volleyball) and strenuous (including swimming laps, aerobics and running) physical activity from high school to their current age and also in the past three years.

The women also provided information about other breast cancer risk factors, including race, family history and use of hormone therapy.

Through 2002, 2,649 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and 593 with in situ breast cancer. Women who reported participating in strenuous activity for more than five hours per week over the long term had a 20 percent lower risk of invasive breast cancer and 31 percent lower risk of early stage breast cancer than women who participated in less than 30 minutes of strenuous activity per week.

Source : www.poughkeepsiejournal.com