October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and today, we are sharing our support to find a cure. After doing some research and interviews, we found some useful information regarding the benefits of exercise and reduced risk of breast cancer.
Treat your body the way it wants to be treated!
How does exercise reduce the risk of breast cancer?
“How exercising lowers breast cancer risk is not fully understood. It’s thought that physical activity regulates hormones including estrogen and insulin, which can fuel breast cancer growth. Regular exercise also helps women stay at a healthy weight, which also helps regulate hormones and helps keep the immune system healthier.”
How much is physical activity needed to reduce breast cancer?
“Unfortunately, there is not a magic number of hours that a woman can exercise to prevent cancer from lowering the risk. But we do know that some exercise is better than none, and more is better than less. Also, more vigorous activity is more effective than less activity. The American Cancer Society recommends all adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes hours of vigorous-intensity activity each week, preferably spread throughout the week.
Examples of moderate-intensity activities include brisk walking, dancing, leisurely bicycling, yoga, golfing, softball, doubles tennis, and general yard and garden maintenance. Examples of vigorous-intensity activities include jogging, running, fast bicycling, swimming, aerobic dance, soccer, singles, tennis, and basketball. Utilizing these activities in addition to your usual routine of walking to and from your car can allow you to develop a routine of physical activity.”
What’s the importance of physical activity after breast cancer treatment?
“Physical activity has many benefits for people who’ve had treatment for breast cancer, including reducing fatigue, helping sleep, improving appetite, and regaining a sense of control.”
Is physical activity beneficial for cancer survivors?
“Definitely! Regular physical activity can help maintain or improve your health during and after treatment. These benefits include avoiding or reducing the side effects of cancer treatment, improving long-term health, and minimizing the risk of potential health risks such as heart attacks and strokes.
Exercise also helps your mental well-being by reducing anxiety, stress, depression, and improving your mood.”
Can a sedentary lifestyle be linked to health risks?
“Sedentary lifestyles increase all causes of mortality, doubles the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, and increase the chances of colon cancer, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, lipid disorders, depression, and anxiety. According to WHO, 60 to 85% of people in the world—from both developed and developing countries—lead sedentary lifestyles, making it one of the more serious yet insufficiently addressed public health problems of our time. Around two-thirds of children are also insufficiently active, with severe implications for their future health.”
Information provided by National Cancer Institute.
