Regular exercise linked to the decrease in breast cancer incidence among African-American women

Regular exercise linked to the decrease in breast cancer incidence among African-American women -

Regular exercise, including brisk walking, is associated with a decreased incidence of breast cancer in African American women. In a recently published study Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention , researchers at Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University have found strong evidence linking physical activity with a lower rate of breast cancer among African American women, a group in which previous evidence was lacking.

In a large prospective study of the health of black women, the study on women's health Black (BWHS), researchers gathered information on exercise habits, such as the time spent exercise per week and type of exercise. They followed over 44,000 African American women over 16 years and observed that they developed breast cancer.

They found that women who exercised vigorously for seven hours or more per week were 25 percent less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with those who exercised less than one hour per week. Examples of vigorous activity include basketball, swimming, running and aerobics. The results were similar whether women walked briskly, but there was no benefit to walking at a normal pace. The results did not differ by the status of breast cancer estrogen receptor

Lynn Rosenberg, ScD, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study of health black women, Boston University said: "Although expert review committees have accepted a link between exercise and the incidence of breast cancer, the majority of study participants were white women. This is the first large study to support that vigorous exercise can reduce breast cancer incidence among African-American women. "