It’s common knowledge that exercise is good for your health and new studies are emerging every day that further validate this. One new study recently published in the journal Cancer examined more than 3,000 women, some with breast cancer and some not. Of the 3,000 women studied, those that exercised throughout their childbearing years were less likely to have breast cancer after menopause. Women who started exercising after menopause saw the same results of lower instances of breast cancer.
The lead researcher on this project was Lauren McCullough of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. When speaking about the results, she stated, “What we can say is exercise is good for you. It’s never too late to start. Our evidence suggests that if you start after menopause you can still help yourself.”
This study revealed that women who exercised between 10 and 19 hours per week during the years between having their first child and entering menopause reduced their likeliness of breast cancer by one third over those who didn’t exercise during that time. Those women that exercised nine to 17 hours per week and started after going through menopause were also 30 percent less likely to have breast cancer than those who were sedentary. Things like education, smoking and income were also accounted for in the study.
There are several studies already that have been tied to exercise lowering the rate of breast cancer cases. Although those studies don’t prove that exercise reduces risk, they do tie together in a positive way. Lowering your excess body fat is one possibility for reducing your cancer risk since high body fat levels are tied to some growth factors that can feed the development of tumors.
This study offers great news for women who want to lower their risk and backs up the fact that we all need to exercise regularly. If you don’t have an exercise plan, it is never too early or late to start. Along with lowering your risk for certain types of cancer, exercise can also help you lose weight, sleep better, improve your energy, and increase your physical fitness along with a host of other great benefits.
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