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What’s
ten minutes out of the morning? Thirty more after work? In the amount of
time if takes the coffee to brew and the dinner to bake, you could go a
long way toward knocking down your breast cancer risk.
About
four hours of exercise a week may reduce the risk of premenopausal
breast cancer by an average of 58 percent, according to a recent study.
Researchers compared the lifetime exercise habits of 545 premenopausal
women who had breast cancer with 545 premenopausal but cancer-free
women. Benefits were even greater for the most active exercisers with
children: Their risk was reduced by 72 percent, compared with a 27
percent reduction in risk exercisers without kids.
This
cancer’s not like lung cancer, where the major risk factor is a
controllable one (smoking). Pregnancies, family history, age of
menstruation in onset and socioeconomic status are factors that seem to
have some play in determining breast cancer risk. And right now, the
effects of diet on breast cancer are still controversial, says study
leader Leslie Bernstein, Ph. D., professor of preventive medicine at the
University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, So
the idea that exercise may lower risk significantly (if this study is
confirmed by future ones)-and that it’s something you can take control
of-provides some hope to women seeking anything to help stem the
epidemic.
The
going theory is that exercise diminishes the breast’s exposure to
hormones by changing the length of the menstrual cycle or by helping to
smooth out its hormonal peaks, says Dr. Bernstein.
“Probably
the most important finding was that lifetime patterns of exercise
appeared to be important,” she says. Those who accrued more hours of
exercise-people who started exercising in their teens or early
twenties-reduced their risks most significantly. But even women who
began substantial exercise programs later were protected.
The
group with reduced risk in this study engaged in a spectrum of a
activities-jogging, racquet sports, swimming, strenuous walking and
weight lifting. So researchers can’t yet say whether the biggest
benefits might come from resistance training or aerobic training. The
bottom line for now is to get moving.
“We
already know that you ought to maintain a regular exercise program,
based on the reduction in risk of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes,
osteoporosis and colon cancer.” says Dr. Bernstein, “The possible
reduction in breast cancer risk just adds greater fuel to that.
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