Researchers at a breast cancer conference in Barcelona, Spain, have found that as much as a third of the cases of breast cancer in Western countries could be avoided with certain lifestyle changes. According to this Associated Press article, those changes included eating less, exercising more and drinking less alcohol.
Breast cancer has slowed due to medical improvements like improved treatments and mammogram screenings, so now experts are focusing on other areas, such as diet and physical activity, to further improve the fight against the disease. For instance, according to a 2006 British study, “obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women.” Because estrogen fuels many breast cancers, and estrogen is produced in fat tissue, experts think that women who weigh more may produce more estrogen and could increase the likelihood of breast cancer. Exercise for any women can help reduce their risk because it helps turn fat into muscle.
As the article notes, discussions of weight and breast cancer are sensitive areas, because people can assume that means the medical establishment is somehow casting blame for those who get breast cancer. Of course, that’s not the case. Tara Beaumont, a clinical nurse specialist, noted that three major risk factors for breast cancer — gender, age and family history — are out of people’s control. She told the AP, “It is incredibly difficult to isolate specific factors, therefore women should in no way feel that they are responsible for developing breast cancer.”
Instead, women can feel more empowered with the possibility of being able to lower the likelihood of getting breast cancer by living a healthier overall life. As the article notes, years ago, studies that linked hormone replacement therapy to cancer caused millions of women to give up that therapy and there was a subsequent drop in the rate of breast cancer. Therefore, according to experts, it’s possible improved diet and more exercise could show similar improvements.
Photo by US Navy via Wikimedia Commons.