According to research, there are steps women can take to help prevent breast cancer. An international panel of experts from leading universities and research centers reviewed more than 900 studies on the links between diet, physical activity, and weight in cancer prevention. Their findings say, women can cut their risk of cancer by 50% if they watch their weight, exercise daily and limit their alcohol intake. The Director of Research at the Institute said that almost 40% of breast cancer cases in the U.S. could be prevented by making these everyday changes.
Help Cure Breast Cancer!
Dr. Susan Love has created the Love/Avon Army of Women research project to stop breast cancer. Their goal is to recruit 1 million women to participate in breast cancer research and finally learn how to prevent the disease. So far they have 380,000 women who have joined. They are recruiting women of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, who are healthy or have a breast cancer history, to join.As a member of her army, you agree to be emailed about breast cancer studies in need of volunteers. Some of the studies involve filling out questionnaires, others require samples of blood, urine or saliva. You choose which studies you want to participate in.
I'm proud to say I have joined the Army of Women. If you are interested in joining or want to find out more, go to www.armyofwomen.org.
9 comments:
For those of us in the BC community that have always exercised, always eaten right, have had moderate alcohol intake along no family history of the disease posts like this are a slap in the face. A gross over simplification of the etiology of breast cancer will not help you or us. You cannot prevent this disease by exercise and diet...and thinking so is folly. There are many other factors as work and many of us believe that environment (toxin exposure) will prove to be key. As someone who not only swam, ran, rock climbed (during chemo) and with a daily yoga practice...I can attest to this. I know many others in the same boat. Please educate yourself at these great sites and check the pink ribbons at the door. Many of the companies that support "pink" actually continue to have phthalates in their very own products!!!!!!
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
http://takeaction.stopbreastcancer.org/site/PageNavigator/Myth7
Be wise and make good choices~
Kate (Devil)Dooley
I have read numerous articles on breast cancer and breast cancer prevention. Studies show that maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active, and limiting alcohol intake make a big difference in the prevention of breast cancer.
Dr. Susan Love, one of the leading authorities on breast cancer, concurs with these findings. You can read more about it at www.bewell.com.
Can we 100% prevent ANYTHING? Probably not. But there are things we can do to substantially lower our risk. That's what I am reporting in this article. It sounds like you were doing everything right but still ended up with the disease. I'm sorry you had to go through it. Best wishes for the future. Thanks for the comment.
I agree with Kate. As someone who has always excercised, maintained a healthy weight, never smoked, do not drink, eat organic, no family breast cancer history and still got agressive triple negative breast cancer, I get a little angry that this lifestyle is promoted as preventing breast cancer. While a healthy lifestyle may boost your immune system, breast cancer is caused by something else.There are other factors that we are missing, such as envrionmental pollutants and viruses.
According to the National Cancer Institute, many studies have shown obesity, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. They have also shown an increased risk with alcohol consumption. Eating a healthy diet, rich in fruits and vegetables and reduced fat, helps to reduce obesity, which in turn reduces breast cancer risk. The National Cancer Institute also says that studies have shown that regular exercise
reduces breast cancer risk. Whether environmental or chemical exposures have an effect on breast cancer risk are yet unproven, but still being studied. There is some data that suggests there may be a link between high dairy intake and breast cancer. There are a lot of things we have yet to understand about this disease. The Love/Avon Army of Research program is working on finding a cure and stopping breast cancer from happening. I think it is important for women to know there are some lifestyle choices they can make to help reduce their risk. Does this guarantee they won't get breast cancer? No, as you (and probably many others) can attest. But, just like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke risk, lifestyle choices do play an important role in risk prevention.
Thanks for your comment.
I agree with the two ladies. My entire life I've watched what I ate because I have a strong family history of heart disease. I lived on fruits, vegetables and legumes. I carefully watched how much fat I consumed and never drank alcohol. I exercised daily and had no family history of bc and I only weigh 115 pounds. I understand what you are saying but it's very hard to know that you did everything right and still got bc. We survivors feel frustrated because articles such as this make us feel like we're inadequate. I would like to see the focus on environment causes as well. It's obvious that even fit, healthy women get bc so enough already with the focusing on diet and exercise and I dare someone to tackle the environment causes. Why doesn’t anyone do a study of what bc survivors were exposed to, to find the common denominator?
Do you know what percentage of women who are diagnosed with bc, who have none of the risk factors (similar to you, healthy lifestyle)? There are some studies being done about whether high dairy intake could be a risk factor. There are also studies being done on whether a diet high in red meat could be a contributing factor. Both studies are focusing on the hormones and antibiotics cows are being given. Have you joined Dr. Susan Love's Army of Women research program? You are right, more research is definitely needed in determining the causes of breast cancer.
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, I have joined the Army of Women and I wear the AOW necklace as a badge of honor everyday. I have contributed to a few research projects and would like to be a part of more. I appreciate Dr. Love and her wonderful cause!
Perhaps Army of Women can create a survey to help identify what percentage of women who have lived a healthy lifestyle and had no risk factors yet still got bc. I have eaten very little red meat during my life and very little dairy because I cannot tolerate the casein protien, but still got a very aggresive breast cancer at age 46.
I will research what percentage of women get breast cancer who have no known risk factors. I will also post another article detailing this in a couple of days. Thanks for your comment.
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