Moderate Exercise Cuts Breast Cancer Risk

There was a study done few years back that emphasised on the need for women to exercise an hour a day to maintain weight.  Most of us aware of the fact that regular exercise is not only goof for your heart but also for bones. But a new study that surprises all the women is that, regular exercises reduce the risk of breast cancer.

The study did at the University Of North Carolina Gillings School Of Public Health, in Chapel Hill, N.C suggests that those women who exercise regularly cut the risk of breast cancer by 30 percent. The research was led by Lauren McCullough.

The researchers study included 1504 women who were a victim of breast cancer and 1555 similar women without any disease aged between 20 to 98 years old, enrolled in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. In order to go ahead with the findings, the subjects were made to answer questions that were based on their physical activity over their lifetimes. They found women who exercised before or after menopause had a low risk of breast cancer.
While the active women gaining a significant amount of weight, particularly after menopause, increased the risk of breast cancer, opposing the beneficial effect of exercise, the researchers found. McCullough said the reasons that exercise is linked with a reduced risk of breast cancer aren't known. Yet it is known that maintaining a normal body weight is associated with reduced breast cancer risk.

McCullough said, "It is thought that a reduction in body fat results in less exposure to circulating hormones, growth factors and pro-inflammatory markers, all of which have been shown to be related to breast cancer risk. Other mechanisms include enhanced immune response, antioxidant capacity and DNA repair."

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City, said "There is more and more evidence that one of the things women can do to reduce the risk of breast and other cancers is to modify their lifestyle, Women who exercise more probably lead a healthier lifestyle -- they watch what they eat, they don't smoke, they don't drink. It's hard to say it's just exercise. This goes along with what we tell patients: 'If you live a healthy lifestyle your risk for cancer probably can be lowered.'"