New Research: Habits That May Cut Breast Cancer Risk

According to a NYT article Regimens: Habits Help in Avoiding Breast Cancer, Study Finds, a recent report by the American Institute for Cancer Research has found that "women can cut their risk of breast cancer by almost half if they watch their weight, exercise daily, breast-feed their babies and limit alcoholic beverages".

According to reports from 81 new studies, women can take preventative measures against breast cancer by limiting alcoholic consumption to one drink per day, exercising for at least 30 to 60 minutes a day, breast-feeding their children, and maintaining a healthy body weight.

The report "estimated that nearly 40 percent of new breast cancer cases in the United States — some 70,000 each year — could be prevented if every woman followed the recommendations."

According to another recent NYT article, Breast-Feeding Linked to Lower Cancer Risk, several studies have found that women with an immediate relative who had breast cancer, who then breast-fed, had a "59 percent lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer" (from a total of 60,075 participants in the second Harvard Nurses' Health Study from 1997-2005). Dr. Alison Stuebe, the first author of the study suggested that "breast-feeding may prove just as effective a strategy for high-risk women as the use of Tamoxifen, a drug that interferes with estrogen activity and is often used in high-risk women to reduce breast cancer risk."

In order to help reduce your risk of any type of cancer, the director of research for the cancer institute, Dr. Susan Hibbinbotham, suggests a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetable, beans, and whole grains while trying to limit consumption of red meat. Any amount of daily physical activity is also found to be extremely beneficial.