Earlier in our Breast Cancer Awareness campaign, we focused on healthy lifestyle choices as a potential risk mitigation factor for breast cancer. This week’s Awareness Wednesday post will focus on a specific aspect of a healthy lifestyle: Physical activity. Many studies have shown that physically active women have a lower risk of breast cancer than those who are inactive.
Cancer.gov includes a 2016 meta-analysis that found:
- The most physically active women had a 12–21% lower risk of breast cancer than those who were least physically active.
- Physical activity has been associated with similar reductions in risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
- Women who increase their physical activity after menopause may also have a lower risk of breast cancer than women who do not.
Not only is physical activity linked to a reduced risk of several chronic diseases, including breast cancer, but it can offer positive impacts on the survival of patients diagnosed with breast, colorectal and prostate cancers. Again referencing cancer.gov, which cites a 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis that found breast cancer survivors who were the most physically active had a 42% lower risk of death from any cause and a 40% lower risk of death from breast cancer than those who were the least physically active.
It’s not too late to participate in Transdev’s initiative with Susan G. Komen Foundation and move for a cure. Visit the Transdev NA Komen National Team to sign up, join a team or support a participant.
Download The Power of Exercise Flyer below.
