This breast surgeon is not the only one interested in weight loss benefits.

A multitude of research about the benefits of weight loss was presented at the recent American Psychological Association's convention.  For details, check out http://forms.apa.org/convention/index.cfm?convention=Keyword and type in the keyword obesity.  16 sessions come up.

Everything from behavioral treatments for obesity to the latest findings about food addiction were addressed at the meeting.  The APA president Suzanne Bennet Johnson said "obesity is the No 1 health challenge facing our country today."

Work presented at the meeting in a variety of studies conducted by Dr Rena Wing from Brown University's Alpert Medical School centers on the benefits of modest weight loss http://brown.edu/academics/medical/.  In one of the studies, a weight loss of only 14 pounds reduced the risk of development of Type 2 diabetes by 58%.  Other studies showed a beneficial effect on sleep apnea, high blood pressure, mobility and quality of life, with a 10% weight loss (20 pounds in the 200 pounder).

And how did they achieve this weight loss?  With these basic behavioral strategies:

• tracking everything they ate
• reducing unhealthy foods
• increasing physical activity

So, long-term, as other studies have shown, we can predict that those women in the study who lost weight will also have fewer breast cancers!  

Together we can prevent 75,000 breast cancer cases each year!

This content is general medical information and not personal medical advice, but we are here to help if you want to begin your own personalized breast cancer risk reduction program at 512-451-5788.