Staying highly active may protect against breast cancer whether it's walking, running, or anything in between, researchers found. Women who got around 2 hours of exercise a day most days of the week were about 30% less likely to develop breast cancer whether pre- or post-menopausal in a population-based study by Lauren E. McCullough, MSPH, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues.
High-intensity exercise didn't appear any better than low-intensity activity, the group reported online in Cancer. "Given that three-quarters of the U.S. population participates in some physical activity, it is conceivably one of the most important lifestyle risk factors associated with the incidence of breast cancer," they wrote. Simply getting some physical activity outside of work didn't appear to have much impact on breast cancer risk.
Women who got 10 to 19 hours of exercise a week during their reproductive years showed an odds ratio of 0.67 for breast cancer compared with inactive women. With regard to activity levels after menopause, women in the quartile that got 9 to 17 hours a week of physical activity had an odds ratio of 0.70 for breast cancer. Every weight category showed lower breast cancer risk with more activity versus none. Substantial weight gain after menopause appeared to eliminate the benefits of exercise for breast cancer risk. (MedPage Today)
ARE WE LISTENING>>> TIME TO GET MOVING AND MAKE IT A GREAT DAY! :} S