We have blogged before about the ample evidence that physical activity and regular exercise reduces breast cancer risk, but now we know more about duration, intensity and timing.
And the news is good.
The source is online in Cancer this week (available only to subscribers) from patients in a long term study evaluating the environmental causes of breast cancer. Researchers from the University of North Carolina, lead by Lauren McCullough, reported on results from the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. They followed and compared 1500 women with breast cancer and 1500 women without breast cancer between 20 and 98 years old.
They confirmed what volumes of research has shown, that any exercise and physical activity reduces the risk of breast cancer, but they showed that intensity did not matter. Recreational physical activity of any kind works: gardening, walking--just move.
They showed that you may start anytime and get the benefit. "I didn't exercise when I was younger" doesn't matter. You can start now and decrease your risk!
Intensity and timing don't matter, so what does?
Duration is the key. Those women who exercised at all, had 6% fewer cancers than those sedentary women. Those who engaged in some sort of physical activity for at least 10 hours per week showed the greatest benefit: 30% fewer cancers! 2 hours 5 days or 1.5 hours every day per week.
Together we can prevent 75,000 breast cancer cases each year!
This content is information and not personal medical advice.
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