Just out of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recent 56th annual meeting. If you are over 30 years old, exercising an hour a week may cut your risk of breast cancer, which is the most common cancer among U.S. women.
192,370 women will be diagnosed with this form of cancer in 2009, according to American Cancer Society.
The good news is that mortality rate from this type of cancer are headed in the right direction - Down.
While this is welcome news, far too many women still have to face this potentially disfiguring, often dangerous and always worrisome condition.
This was the rationale behind the research presented at the ACSM meeting, a rather detailed look at activity levels (among other things) in a large group of women.
The University of Northern Colorado team questioned 4,296 women about their activity levels during four key stages of life; 10 to 15 years, 15 - 30 years, 30 - 50 years, and over 50 years.
The subjects completed an intensive survey, including questions on ethnicity, education, menstrual and pregnancy history, use of oral contraceptives and female hormones, breast health screening practices, family history of cancers, smoking history, diet, alcohol intake, stress levels as well as the amount of weekly exercise.
"An average amount of exercise was defined as 60 minutes per week," explains lead researcher Lisa Sprod from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University, "so anyone exercising less than 60 minutes was below average, above 60 minutes was above average, and anyone that considered themselves highly competitive' chose that category."
What the researchers found was that breast cancer risks didn't have a relationship to the amounts of exercise during the life stages under 30 years; but once a woman was over that 30 year mark her risks of developing breast cancer were significantly lowered if she was active.
Those who were the most active between 30 to 50 years old developed breast cancer less frequently than those who were less active during that same time period.
This lowered risk carried on even as the women passed their 50th birthday, and all it needed was 1 hour of activity per week for them to lower the risk.
"Regular exercise appears to have protective effects for this age group of women," continues student researcher Sprod. "Meeting physical activity recommendations can act like a prescription for prevention when it comes to breast cancer."
This research supports established data that links activity and breast cancer risk, especially as it relates to a constant level of activity maintained over a lifetime.
Exercise is known to help regulate hormone levels, current weight and weight gain with age, as well as the immune system.
If all this has you considering getting more active, talk with your own doctor to be sure exercising is safe for you before you get started.
Once you get the go-ahead, slow, steady progress is what you're after. Ten minutes a day for the first few weeks is a solid start. Once you're able to do this much, slowly increase the length and then the intensity of your workout.
This is the best way to avoid injury, build your endurance, and attack (and achieve) those fitness goals in manageable chunks.
Also, your added health might give you greater protection against breast cancer.
192,370 women will be diagnosed with this form of cancer in 2009, according to American Cancer Society.
The good news is that mortality rate from this type of cancer are headed in the right direction - Down.
While this is welcome news, far too many women still have to face this potentially disfiguring, often dangerous and always worrisome condition.
This was the rationale behind the research presented at the ACSM meeting, a rather detailed look at activity levels (among other things) in a large group of women.
The University of Northern Colorado team questioned 4,296 women about their activity levels during four key stages of life; 10 to 15 years, 15 - 30 years, 30 - 50 years, and over 50 years.
The subjects completed an intensive survey, including questions on ethnicity, education, menstrual and pregnancy history, use of oral contraceptives and female hormones, breast health screening practices, family history of cancers, smoking history, diet, alcohol intake, stress levels as well as the amount of weekly exercise.
"An average amount of exercise was defined as 60 minutes per week," explains lead researcher Lisa Sprod from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University, "so anyone exercising less than 60 minutes was below average, above 60 minutes was above average, and anyone that considered themselves highly competitive' chose that category."
What the researchers found was that breast cancer risks didn't have a relationship to the amounts of exercise during the life stages under 30 years; but once a woman was over that 30 year mark her risks of developing breast cancer were significantly lowered if she was active.
Those who were the most active between 30 to 50 years old developed breast cancer less frequently than those who were less active during that same time period.
This lowered risk carried on even as the women passed their 50th birthday, and all it needed was 1 hour of activity per week for them to lower the risk.
"Regular exercise appears to have protective effects for this age group of women," continues student researcher Sprod. "Meeting physical activity recommendations can act like a prescription for prevention when it comes to breast cancer."
This research supports established data that links activity and breast cancer risk, especially as it relates to a constant level of activity maintained over a lifetime.
Exercise is known to help regulate hormone levels, current weight and weight gain with age, as well as the immune system.
If all this has you considering getting more active, talk with your own doctor to be sure exercising is safe for you before you get started.
Once you get the go-ahead, slow, steady progress is what you're after. Ten minutes a day for the first few weeks is a solid start. Once you're able to do this much, slowly increase the length and then the intensity of your workout.
This is the best way to avoid injury, build your endurance, and attack (and achieve) those fitness goals in manageable chunks.
Also, your added health might give you greater protection against breast cancer.
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Next - just head on over to the Daily Health Bulletin for more information on how to reduce breast cancer, plus for a limited time get 5 free fantastic health reports. Click here for more details on this study to reduce breast cancer risk.
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