Outsmart Breast Cancer: Part II

According to an article in the October 2010 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, 38 percent of breast cancer cases could be prevented with diet, exercise, and weight control.  Yesterday's blog hit on watching weight gain, incorporating certain veggies in your diet, taking vitamin D, and avoid excess hormones.  Today we will look at 5 more tips on preventing breast cancer.

5. Back away from the bar: The reality is that the more alcohol you consume, the greater your odds of getting breast cancer possibly because it raises estrogen levels.  The consensus among health groups is to limit consumption to one drink or less per day.

6. Race for the prevention: Being physically active, it turns out, could be the single best thing you can do to protect your health.  For a start, regular aerobic activity for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.  This will help control weight, but it also acts directly on body chemistry to lower levels of circulating insulin and estrogen. 

7. And keep on going: Surviving and thriving after diagnose may also depend on stepping up the pace.  In a review of six studies involving 12,000 breast cancer patients, researchers found that regular exercise could reduce disease recurrence by 24 percent, breast cancer deaths by 34 percent, and overall deaths by 41 percent.

8. Don't miss mammograms: When government-sponsored task force announced last year that it didn't think there was enough evidence to subject women in their 40s to regular mammograms, and that women in their 50s could be screened every other year.  A major 2009 study reported that three-quarters of breast cancer deaths occurred among women who did not undergo regular screening.

9. Assert your individuality: Public health guidelines focus on the population as a whole, but to protect your health, you need to get specific.  You may need a stepped-up screening schedule if, for example you've ever had a breast biopsy (even if benign). Likewise, if you are at increase risk due to family history, you may need more frequent exams or screenings with MRI.  Make sure your doctor knows your family history (father's as well as mother's).