Study results suggest that regular vigorous exercise, such as running and aerobics, could reduce a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.
Michael Leitzmann and colleagues conducted an 11-year study of 32,269 women to assess whether physical activity had any impact on the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer. Results showed that the risk of breast cancer among women who did the most vigorous exercise was 30% lower than in women who did the least vigorous exercise. However, the protective effect of vigorous exercise only applied to women of normal body weight – vigorous exercise did not reduce the risk of breast cancer in overweight or obese women. Moderate exercise was found to have no effect upon breast cancer risk.
Activities rated as vigorous included: running, fast jogging, competitive tennis, aerobics, bicycling on hills, fast dancing, and heavy house and yard work such as scrubbing floors, washing windows, digging, or chopping wood.
Leitzmann MF, Moore SC, Peters TM, Lacey JV, Schatzkin A, Schairer C, Brinton LA, Albanes D. Prospective study of physical activity and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research. 2008;10:R92 doi:10.1186/bcr2190
