Run for Prevention

For young women on the run, researchers say lacing up your tennis shoes can do more than keep your heart healthy – it can help prevent early breast cancer.

By Melanie Wanzek
CTW Features

For young women on the run, researchers say lacing up your tennis shoes can do more than keep your heart healthy – it can help prevent early breast cancer.

“We don’t have a lot of prevention strategies for premenopausal breast cancer, but our findings clearly show that physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood can pay off in the long run by reducing a woman’s risk of early breast cancer,” says lead investigator Dr. Graham Colditz, associate director of Prevention and Control at the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “This is just one more reason to encourage girls and young women to exercise regularly.”

Though breast cancer is often associated with older women, one-fourth of all cases are diagnosed in women before menopause. In the study, researchers found that age-adjusted incidence rates dropped from 194 cases per 100,000 in the least active women to 136 in the most active. The most active women reported activity levels equivalent to running 3.25 hours a week, or walking 13 hours a week – and the benefit came from total physical activity, not any particular sport or intensity.

Now what? No matter what your fitness level, start moving. Whether it’s walking to work, mowing the lawn or going to the gym, every bit helps.

“You don’t have to be a marathon runner to get the risk-reducing benefits of exercise,” Colditz says.

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