Post-menopausal women may be able to lower their risks of breast cancer by 14 percent when they walk for at least an hour a day, according to a new research. Another study points to consumption of multivitamins with minerals as responsible for lowering mortality rate of breast cancer patients by as much as 30 percent.
Keep that body moving to fight the breast cancer
A large research done by the American Cancer Society concluded that walking for at least seven hours a week may gain modest benefits in warding off breast cancer. The authors suggest that there is not even a need to do vigorous workouts, although the latter may help decrease the risks more.
The study published on the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention looked into the physical activity of more than 73,000 women between 50 and 74 years old in 1992 to 1993. The proponents monitored the risk of cancer for the said population through 2009. The subjects of the study were asked about the activities such as walking, jogging, swimming, biking, and tennis and how much they tend to do these activities. During the period of the study, about 4,760 subjects developed breast cancer.
Forty seven percent of the women reported walking as their only activity and this resulted to a 14 percent lower risk of having breast cancer. Those who reported a more vigorous routine have 25 percent decreased risk of getting the dreaded disease, which is consistent to findings of other studies.
"Our results clearly support an association between physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer, with more vigorous activity having a stronger effect. Our findings are particularly relevant, as people struggle with conflicting information about how much activity they need to stay healthy. Without any other recreational physical activities, walking on average of at least one hour per day was associated with a modestly lower risk of breast cancer. More strenuous and longer activities lowered the risk even more," explained Dr. Alpa Patel, one of the authors of the study, through a press statement.
Multivitamins as dietary insurance
Another study done by the Women's Health Initiative suggests that taking multivitamins with minerals can significantly decrease the risk of dying in post-menopausal breast cancer patients. The WHO analyzed the data of 7,728 women diagnosed with breast cancer who were part of a bigger study that involved 161,608 women between 50 to 79 years old in 1993 to 1998.
The proponents of the study concluded that cancer patients who consistently consume multivitamins with minerals at diagnosis stage of the disease have a 30 percent lower mortality rate compared to non-multivitamin users.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women regardless of ethnicity or race. A 2009 statistics of the CDC show that 211,731 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer.
