By: Hannah Jones
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer women have to face during their lives. Worldwide, approximately one out of every nine women develops breast cancer and this condition is the second most fatal cancer for women, after lung cancer.
The usual suspects in such cases are ancestry, exposure to ionizing radiation and xenoestrogens that cause mutations in the DNA, while decreasing the body's capacity to repair the damage. However, there are other things that act as promoters of the disease, such as age, alcohol, artificial light and obesity.
Although many people would not think it possible, gaining weight, especially after the menopause, has a tremendous influence on the risk of developing breast cancer. An international team of scientists has recently found that losing 10 pounds between the ages of 18 and 30 lowers the risk of cancer by as much as 65%, while gaining 10 pounds increases the risk of developing cancer after the age of 40.
The international study was conducted on a group of 2,000 women carrying the BRCA1 and 2 genes and focused on their weight at the ages of 18, 30 and 40. What scientists found was that women who lost weight, especially after having given birth to children, had better chances of avoiding the mutation of genes that causes breast cancer.
Another important study has focused on the diet of women after breast cancer surgery. According to this study, women who had followed a low-fat diet saw a 24 percent decrease on average in the risk of breast cancer recurrence. The biggest boon went to women suffering from estrogen receptor negative cancer, who saw a 42 percent drop in the risk of recurrence.
For this reason doctors and oncology experts advise women to keep an eye on their weight, because letting things go out of hand could turn out to have fatal consequences later on. A low-fat diet, plenty of exercise and healthy foods are one of the best ways women can make life easier for themselves. A normal body weight helps fight cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and other conditions.
Staying lean through the years is not that hard, despite the fact that the common urban lifestyle does not encourage this. Obesity is a bigger and bigger threat to men and women alike and some health authorities have begun to speak of it as an epidemic.
Across the world, more and more people perform far too little physical effort compared to the daily intake of calories and more and more people are declared clinically obese every year. You can stop this trend in your life. It's enough to go outside more often and to be careful about what you eat. Yes, it's that simple.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer women have to face during their lives. Worldwide, approximately one out of every nine women develops breast cancer and this condition is the second most fatal cancer for women, after lung cancer.
The usual suspects in such cases are ancestry, exposure to ionizing radiation and xenoestrogens that cause mutations in the DNA, while decreasing the body's capacity to repair the damage. However, there are other things that act as promoters of the disease, such as age, alcohol, artificial light and obesity.
Although many people would not think it possible, gaining weight, especially after the menopause, has a tremendous influence on the risk of developing breast cancer. An international team of scientists has recently found that losing 10 pounds between the ages of 18 and 30 lowers the risk of cancer by as much as 65%, while gaining 10 pounds increases the risk of developing cancer after the age of 40.
The international study was conducted on a group of 2,000 women carrying the BRCA1 and 2 genes and focused on their weight at the ages of 18, 30 and 40. What scientists found was that women who lost weight, especially after having given birth to children, had better chances of avoiding the mutation of genes that causes breast cancer.
Another important study has focused on the diet of women after breast cancer surgery. According to this study, women who had followed a low-fat diet saw a 24 percent decrease on average in the risk of breast cancer recurrence. The biggest boon went to women suffering from estrogen receptor negative cancer, who saw a 42 percent drop in the risk of recurrence.
For this reason doctors and oncology experts advise women to keep an eye on their weight, because letting things go out of hand could turn out to have fatal consequences later on. A low-fat diet, plenty of exercise and healthy foods are one of the best ways women can make life easier for themselves. A normal body weight helps fight cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and other conditions.
Staying lean through the years is not that hard, despite the fact that the common urban lifestyle does not encourage this. Obesity is a bigger and bigger threat to men and women alike and some health authorities have begun to speak of it as an epidemic.
Across the world, more and more people perform far too little physical effort compared to the daily intake of calories and more and more people are declared clinically obese every year. You can stop this trend in your life. It's enough to go outside more often and to be careful about what you eat. Yes, it's that simple.
