Contributed by Nicole Weaver| 09 June, 2007 21:47 GMT
Good nutrition and moderate exercise can lower the risk of dying from breast cancer by as much as 50 percent, even among women who are overweight or obese, according to new research conducted by the
Moores Cancer Center at the University of California in San Diego and published in the
Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The researchers noted that earlier studies that examined the effect of either diet or exercise on breast cancer survival produced inconclusive results. However, this one is the first to evaluate the combination of diet and exercise on patients with the disease.
"Even if a woman is overweight, if she eats at least five servings of vegetables and fruits a day and walks briskly for 30 minutes, six days a week, her risk of death from her disease goes down by 50 percent," said the paper's first author, John Pierce, PhD, director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
"The key is that you must do both," he emphasized.
The diminished risk was observed in women who were obese, as well as those who were not, noted co-author Cheryl Rock, PhD, RD, of the Center's Cancer Prevention and Control Program.
"The effect was not seen in women who practiced only one of the lifestyle patterns -- high vegetable and fruit intake, or physical activity," she pointed out. |
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