It’s a fact: 1 in 8 American women will develop breast cancer, according to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Now researchers say there’s a surprising new way to reduce your risk if you’re African American–just go for a daily walk.
The research, which was headed by the Boston University Medical Center, says that African American women who vigorously exercised for seven or more hours per week faced a 25 percent reduced risk of breast cancer. This included those who walked briskly as their only form of exercise.
Those who did not regularly exercise, however, faced an increased risk of the disease.
“Although expert review panels have accepted a link between physical exercise and breast cancer incidence, most study participants have been white women,” says Lynn Rosenberg, Sc.D., a professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. “This is the first large scale study to support that vigorous exercise may decrease incidence of breast cancer in African American women.”
Rosenberg, who headed the research, originally drew her findings from the Black Women’s Health Study, an ongoing follow-up study looking at health and illness patterns affecting African American women. The study, which began in 1995, interviewed nearly 59,000 women between the ages of 21 to 69 and asked about their lifestyle habits and health problems–including how much they exercised. This piece of data proved instrumental for Rosenberg’s study, as she used it to determine how much exercise affected a woman’s breast cancer risk.
Eventually, she narrowed down her research to 44,708 African American women over age 30 who had reported various levels of exercise, ranging from no exercise at all to “vigorous activity.” From there, she looked at how many developed breast cancer during the study period.
As it turned out, walking briskly–considered vigorous exercise–reduced their risk of breast cancer by 25 percent.
“High levels of vigorous exercise or brisk walking may be associated with a reduction in incidence of breast cancer in African American women,” write researchers. “Vigorous exercise at age 30, age 21, or in high school was not associated with breast cancer incidence.”
On the contrary, those who sat for long periods of time or didn’t exercise at all faced a heightened risk of breast cancer. This, say researchers, goes to show that staying active is one of the most important habits women can develop to avoid cancer.
“These results provide informative data on a potential modifiable risk factor, exercise, for breast cancer in African American women,” say researchers.
What You Should Do
So the evidence is clear: Make exercise a regular habit and you’ll avoid breast cancer. If you haven’t already, it’s now time to make exercise a part of your cancer prevention routine–something you can do by committing to 30 minutes of brisk walking everyday.
Readers: What is your favorite form of exercise?
Sources:
Study: Brisk Walking Helps Lower Breast Cancer Risk for African American Women – AACRJournals.org
Vigorous Exercise Shown to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer for Black Women – ScienceDaily.com
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