Reducing your risk of breast cancer!

There are variety of reasons on how you can develop breast cancer. There are variety of things you can’t about it like gene’s, age, but don’t forget your lifestyle has a big part on your risk. There are some things you can change to really reduce your risk! Having a healthy lifestyle can’t help reduce that risk, but remember there are no guarantees!

We know that a big proportion of breast cancers can be linked to lifestyle and you can reduce that risk by limiting alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight, and being active! Here are some facts you should know:

  1. 30 minutes or 3.5 a week of exercise can reduce your risk of breast cancer by at least 20%.10 individual activities
    • Brisk walk in the park
    • Join a running club
    • Go for a bike ride
    • Go for a swim
    • Do an exercise video
    • A quick gym session
    • Try a new exercise class
    • Try power yoga2
    • Try a park boot camp
    • Give Zumba a go

    10 group or family activities

    • Have a dance contest with the kids
    • Play tennis or badminton with friends
    • Play a round of golf
    • Take family and friends tenpin bowling
    • Learn a new type of dance
    • Actively play with kids
    • Go on a group hike
    • Take the family ice-skating
    • Get the family out biking
    • Play football in the garden

    10 day-to-day activities

    • Brisk walk to work or the shops
    • Push a baby buggy, pram or wheelchair
    • Mow the lawn
    • Do some gardening
    • Wash (and wax) the car
    • Get vacuuming
    • Paint and decorate a room
    • Clear away leaves or sweep the paths
    • Walk up the stairs
    • Take the dog for a walk
  2. Regularly drinking alcohol (even one a day) increases your risk of developing breast cancer.The amount of alcohol in a drink can be measured in units. Some drinks have more alcohol in them than others:*Units of alcohol chart

    We can show this in the chart below. This shows how many women out of 100 will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, depending on how much they drink.*

    For example:

    • In a group of 100 women who do not drink, about 11 will probably develop breast cancer in their lifetime.
    • In contrast, in a group of 100 women who drink two units of alcohol a day (that’s a standard glass of wine), about 14 will develop breast cancer in their lifetime.
    • Therefore, drinking two units a day causes about three extra women out of every 100 to develop breast cancer.

    Breast cancer risk graph

  3. A healthy weight throughout your life, you can reduce your risk of developing breast cancer even after the menopause.

    Breast cancer risk in women over 50 by body mass index (BMI)*

    Number of women out of 100 who will probably develop breast cancer gradually increases as BMI increases from <22.5 (7 out of 100) to >30 (11 or 12 out of 100)

If you have anymore questions about these topics then please come by our clinic and ask any of our members about what your risk could be like.

*Charts from http://breastcancernow.org/

Posted in General.