Exercise benefits younger women

Physically active premenopausal women significantly reduce their risk of breast cancer, according to research in the May 13 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Many studies have shown an exercise benefit to postmenopausal women, but this new research shows that younger women also reduce their cancer risk. The research is part of the long-range Nurses Health Study and included 64,777 premenopausal women. Some details:

• The greatest risk reduction came from exercise between 12 and 22, with those 23 to 34 showing a slightly reduced benefit. Women over 35, in this study, gained no risk reduction, which contradicts other studies that show a benefit to lifelong exercise.

• Running 3.25 hours a week or walking 13 hours a week brings a 23 percent risk reduction.

NOTE: Hormone-negative breast cancer is most common among premenopausal women.

Exercise—the best medicine for hormone-negative

Physical activity, including moderate walks and cycling, reduces the risk of breast cancer, with the greatest benefit among women who are hormone-negative, according to a literature review of 62 studies on the effect of exercise on breast cancer risk. Other women whose gains are especially significant: non-whites, those with a family history of breast cancer, and those who have given birth to two or more children benefit the most from exercise.

The review, published in the May 13 edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that:

• In 76 percent of the studies, physically active women had a lower breast cancer risk; risk reduction was significant in 30 of the 62 studies.

• Among the studies that showed an effect, breast cancer risk was reduced by an average of 25 percent.

• Moderate activity such as walking or leisure cycling brought better odd—a 26 percent reduction—than high intensity exercise—a 22 percent reduction.

• Lifetime activity showed the greatest benefit—greater than that from activity around the time of diagnosis.

• Active postmenopausal women benefit the most. Activity over age 50 showed a greater risk reduction that activity in adolescence and early childhood.

• Thin is best, but only when associated with exercise. Women with a BMI of less than 22 had 19 percent greater risk reduction than women with a BMI above 25. (See the link on the left to compute your BMI.)

• A high BMI cuts the effect. Women with a BMI over 30, even if they are active, had no risk reduction from exercise.

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Read more about TNBC in my book, Surviving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Cancer Survivors More Obese Than Most

Breast cancer survivors are among the least physically active cancer survivors, which turns out to be a pretty sedentary group. In a study published in the June 1 issue of Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, Canadian researchers discovered that cancer survivors, for the most part, have a surprisingly unhealthy lifestyle. Among the least active are colorectal, breast, and female melanoma survivors. The most active: male skin survivors

Twenty-one percent of the 114,000 Canadians who were interviewed for the study were physically active; 18 percent were obese. By comparison, 25 percent of Canadians are physically active and 15 percent are obese.

Breast cancer survivors were only about half as likely to be physically active as women who had not had cancer. This despite the fact that both diet and exercise are linked to a reduced risk of cancer and its recurrence.

Why do patients not adopt the healthy habits that can ? There are several possibilities.

• They don’t know about the research.
• Their treatment left them exhausted, depressed, or both, neither of which is conducive to starting a diet or exercise regimen.

If they don’t know that obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are dangerous, why not? Are doctors not focusing on the whole patient, looking only at the cancer and not the rest of the body? That was the case with my docs—nary a one told me to eat well and exercise. Perhaps they knew I was already a health nut? Perhaps they didn’t know the research themselves? Perhaps they only have time to do so much? Whatever the case, it is a sad medical system that keeps doctors from sharing essential health information with their patients.

If the problem is with exhaustion or depression, that’s equally sad, as exercise and diet can help both.

If you know anybody who is recovering from cancer—breast or otherwise—encourage them to get out and walk, to eat their veggies and fruits and reduce their dietary fat. If they have trouble getting started, offer to go walk with them and make it a social event. Bring fresh fruit for a snack.

I was fortunate in that I had made major diet and exercise changes before I was diagnosed, so I just continued my existing plan. But it had been so difficult to get started and keep going— even while I was healthy. I wonder how hard it would have been for me to get going while I was sick.