Doctors have long known that obesity increases a woman's chances of breast cancer after menopause. Scientific evidence suggests the effect can be reversed with weight loss. Post-menopausal women who lost weight and kept it off had a lower risk of breast cancer than women who stayed the same weight.
The findings could have broad public health implications, given that an estimated 2 out of 3 women in the United States are either overweight or obese.
researches pulled together data from 10 separate studies, which included, in total, 180,000 women over age 50 who were tracked for a decade. Nearly 7,000 of the women were diagnosed with breast cancer during that time.
Weight was measured at the beginning, middle and end of the study to see whether the women lost weight, and if so, whether they were able to maintain that weight loss. The study accounted for other risk factors that can impact obesity and/or breast cancer risk, including physical activity levels and whether the women were on hormone replacement therapy.
Women who were able to lose just 4.5 pounds and keep it off were found to have a 13 per cent lowered risk for breast cancer.
The larger the sustained weight loss, the greater the apparent impact. Teras said that women who lost at least 20 pounds cut their risk for breast cancer by about a quarter.
While some breast cancer risk is genetic, lifestyle factors can also contribute, such as lack of physical activity, alcohol intake and some forms of hormone therapy. In researches, the link between weight loss and breast cancer risk was only observed in women who were not taking hormone replacement therapy
Researches add to growing evidence lifestyle choices can impact breast cancer in positive ways. A separate large study released earlier this year found eating a low-fat, plant-based diet can help significantly lower a woman's likelihood of dying from breast cancer.
So a healthy lifestyle does make an impact, and so is maintaining your weight!
Source: Today
