Get Moving to Help Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer

By Stacy Simon Engaging in regular exercise is good for you for many reasons, and one of them is to lower your risk of getting breast cancer. Many studies conducted over the past 20 years have shown that an increase in physical activity is linked to a lower breast cancer risk. The difference in risk between the most active and the least active women is typically around 25%. How exercising lowers breast cancer risk is not fully understood. It’s thought that physical activity regulates hormones including estrogen and insulin, which can fuel breast cancer growth. Regular exercise also helps women stay at a healthy weight, which also helps regulate hormones and helps keep the immune system healthier. How much exercise do women need? RESOURCES: Breast cancer information and resourcesLearn more about breast cancerBreast cancer risk factorsNutritional and physical activity for cancer preventionGet active Unfortunately, there is not a magic number of hours that a women can exercise to prevent cancer from occurring or to lower risk. But we do know that some is better than none, and more is better than less. Also, more vigorous activity is more effective than less vigorous activity. In one study from the Women's Health Initiative, as little as 1.25 to 2.5 hours per week of brisk walking reduced a woman's risk by 18%. Walking 10 hours a week reduced the risk a little more. The American Cancer Society recommends all adults engage in at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderat...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Breast Cancer Diet/Exercise/Weight Source Type: news