Thursday, 15 March 2007

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Aerobics can ward off cancer in women

Working up a sweat reduces your risk of breast cancer

A decent workout doesn’t just give you a better body, it may also protect you from breast cancer, according to new research.

The study suggests that aerobics classes, jogging or swimming may protect women against both early stage non-invasive breast cancer (where there is no evidence of cancer cells breaking out of the part of the breast in which it started) and the invasive (where cancer cells are breaking through to or invading neighboring normal tissue) form of the disease.

A 10-year investigation, involving 110,000 women aged 22 to 79 in California has found a significant correlation between regular physical exercise and lower rates of breast cancer.

Women who do aerobic sports for more than five hours a week have a lower risk of contracting the disease, with the risk of early stage breast cancer cut by 31 per cent and a 20 per cent drop in invasive cancer cases. In the UK around 41,000 women develop breast cancer each year and 13,000 die.

However, the women who benefited spent more than five hours a week running, swimming, going to aerobics classes, or engaging in other forms of strenuous exercise. Moderate activity, such as simply walking, did not have an influence.

Liz Carroll, head of clinical services for Breast Cancer Care told the Daily Mail: ‘Evidence is emerging pointing to the potential benefits exercise may have in reducing the risk of breast cancer. Although more research is needed.’