In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month we are presenting a two part series on exercise and breast cancer. We begin with a look at how exercise can reduce breast cancer risk in older women. Next week we'll look at exercise's impact on the health of younger women.

by

Joseph

Walking may cut the risk for one of nature's deadliest cancers, a new study suggests. According to research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, recreational walking reduces breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Janet Hildebrand of the American Cancer Society's Epidemiological research Program led a research team which sought to further understand the relationship between walking and breast cancer.

They were curious as to how weight gain, hormones and body mass index and other factors are associated with the reduced cancer risk observed in people who participate in physical exercise. They also sought to better understand the relationship between the amount of time spent sitting and breast cancer.

To find the answer to these questions they analyzed data from 73,631 postmenopausal women (age 50 -74) who participated in the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort in the early 1990s.

Every two years the participants completed self-administered questionnaires wherein they supplied information about environmental, reproductive, medical and other factors. During the course of the study, 4760 women reportedly developed breast cancer.

Of particular interest was the time the women spent engaged in leisure activities e.g. time spent watching TV, reading, walking, swimming, aerobics/calisthenics, dancing, etc. which provided important insight into how physical exercise can impact breast cancer risk.

Physically Active Women Had Lower Breast Cancer Risk

Hildebrand and her colleagues found that postmenopausal women who walked for just one hour per day had a 14%  lower breast cancer risk of breast cancer than women who didn't exercise. Women who were more physically active e.g. racquetball, aerobics, dancing had an even lower risk of breast cancer (25% lower risk compared to women who rarely spent time exercising).

 The questionnaires revealed that physically active women tended to be leaner than women who spent less time exercising. They were also less likely to smoke and more likely to maintain or lose weight during their adult years than less active women.

This is important because weight gain is correlated with increased breast cancer risk. Previous research coming from the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle shows that women who participated in exercise and healthy eating habits had lower estrogen levels than women didn't exercise or eat healthy.

 The researchers noted that while less than 50% of adult women fail to get meet the minimum requirements for regular exercise (150 minutes of moderate exercise/week or 75 minutes intense exercise/week); the fact that 60% of women reportedly spend some time walking every day "promotion of leisure-time walking may be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity among postmenopausal women."

The impact exercise has on breast cancer risk can't be understated: exercise can save lives.

Next week you'll learn the good things that moderate workouts do to the hormones in the human body and what this means for reducing breast cancer risk.

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Article References

 Hildebrand JS, Gapstur SM, Campbell PT, Gaudet MM, & Patel AV (2013). Recreational Physical Activity and Leisure-Time Sitting in Relation to Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 22 (10), 1906-1912 PMID: 24097200

Weight Loss May Lower Breast Cancer Risk In Women

"Walking May Cut Your Breast Cancer Risk" copyright © 2013 Living Fit, Healthy and Happy_(SM). All Rights Reserved.

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