Drop breast cancer risk: You can help lower your chances of getting the disease by taking care of your health.
Today we look at ways you may be able to drop breast cancer risk. Many factors can influence your risk of getting breast cancer. Of course, some variables are not changeable, including getting older and your family history. However, there are ways you can help lower your risk of breast cancer.
A risk factor is something that raises your probability of getting a disease, such as breast cancer. But having risk factors does not mean that you are certain to get the disease. Some breast cancer risk factors are related to personal behaviors. Today we explore ways you can empower yourself or individuals about whom you care.
Seven Ways to Help Reduce Your Risk
- Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight increases breast cancer risk, particularly after menopause. Here’s one reason why: After menopause, the vast majority of your estrogen comes from fat tissue. Having more fat tissue raises the amount of estrogen your body makes, in turn, lifting your breast cancer risk. Also, being overweight is associated with higher levels of insulin, which also raises risk.
- Get regular physical activity. Regular exercise can drop your breast cancer risk. The American Cancer Society (ACS) Guidelines for Diet and Physical Activity recommend getting at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity each week.
- Don’t drink alcohol, or limit it. Women who have one standard drink a day have about a 1.1-times increase in risk compared with non-drinkers, while women who have 2 to 3 drinks a day have about a 1.2-times higher risk than non-drinkers. If you choose to consume alcohol, the ACS recommends that women have no more than one standard drink on any given day. A standard drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor.
- Don’t smoke cigarettes.
- Breastfeed your children, if possible.
