Exercisers may help breast-cancer survival
Source: UPI
SEATTLE (UPI) -- Women who reported the highest levels of physical activity a year before they were diagnosed with breast cancer may have higher survival, finds a U.S. study.
Page E. Abrahamson, now at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, led researchers while at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to investigate the relationship between pre-diagnosis physical activity and survival in 1,264 women with breast cancer.
Abrahamson found that obese and overweight women who had higher levels of moderate or vigorous recreational physical activity within one year before diagnosis tended to have better five-year survival patterns compared to other groups. Women of ideal body weight did not experience survival benefits from exercise; more remote histories of physical activity also had no impact on survival, according to the study published in the Oct. 15 issue of Cancer.
Survival modestly increased among women with body mass index greater than 25 who reported highest levels of physical activity within one year of diagnosis. There was no benefit for women with BMI less than 25. Also, physical activity in adolescence or early adulthood had no impact on survival, says Abrahamson.
Source:
Health and Fitness
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