1. Exercise Reduces Breast Cancer Risk
There are many reasons for women to exercise, abstain from alcohol and maintain a healthy weight. These healthy habits not only increase a woman's overall health, they also decrease a woman's chance of developing breast cancer. Don't just be a weekend warrior; research shows that women whose activity level falls in the strenuous range, five or more hours a week, have the lowest breast cancer risk compared to the least active women. After all that stress-reducing exercise, you won't even miss the cocktail you used to have to relax.
2. When Fat is Good
As women age, their breasts undergo a series of changes. One of these changes is the transformation from dense, firm tissue in the breasts to fatty tissue. Although women may believe that all body fat is bad, this is one case where fatty tissue is desirable. Women whose breasts contain dense tissue are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Women whose mammograms reveal dense breasts should ask the doctor about the appropriate intervals between breast cancer screening exams.
3. Hormones Matter
Estrogen plays an important role in a woman's life: It controls when she begins to menstruate, whether she can get pregnant and when she enters menopause. Researchers know that estrogen also can play a role in whether a woman develops breast cancer. A woman's lifetime exposure to estrogen can increase the risk of breast cancer, so anything that reduces this exposure reduces the risk of breast cancer. For example, having a late onset of menstruation or an early menopause reduces the breasts' exposure to estrogen. Women who get pregnant before age 35 also have a lower risk than women who delay pregnancy or never get pregnant.
4. Family History Plays a Big Role
Long before scientists launched the human genome project, researchers observed that women with a strong family history of breast cancer had an increased risk of developing it themselves. Now, researchers have pinpointed the exact genetic mutations that make a woman more susceptible to developing breast cancer. In the early 1990s, scientists identified two genes that normally have a tumor-suppressing function. A mutation in one or both of these genes may be responsible for up to 90 percent of breast cancers that run in families. Ask your doctor if genetic testing for breast cancer is right for you.
5. To Sweat or Not to Sweat
The fact that the parabens in underarm deodorants mimic estrogen in the body's cells, coupled with the proximity of deodorant application to the breast, raises suspicions about the safety of these products. One study demonstrated no relationship between deodorant use and breast-cancer development. Another study of breast-cancer survivors showed an earlier onset of the disease in women who used deodorants frequently and from an early age. You should avoid buying deodorants with paraben on the ingredient label until further research clarifies the issue.
