(LifeScript Health News) Vigorous exercise – including vacuuming, scrubbing floors and running – may cut your risk of breast cancer by 13% or more. In a National Cancer Institute study, 30,000 postmenopausal women were evaluated for 11 years. The volunteers who exercised most vigorously were 13% less likely to have developed breast cancer. (Non-vigorous activity – such as light housework, walking and easy jogging – showed no beneficial effect.) Among healthy-weight women, the risk of breast cancer was reduced by 30%.
“Even among women without this increased risk [of being overweight], if they exercise they can get some benefit,” says Michael Leitzmann, who led the study. He noted that working out reduces estrogen levels – a known risk factor for the disease. Several previous studies have shown that regular strenuous exercise can help people avoid heart disease, cancer and other conditions.
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