When a woman gets a diagnosis of breast cancer, she wants all the odds in her favor in order to fight and win against this terrible disease. A new study finds that keeping your weight in the normal range boosts your chances of surviving breast cancer if you develop this potentially deadly disease.
The research finds that those classed as overweight (or obese) prior to and after their diagnosis had less chance of survival. This link appeared only between the estrogen receptor positive form of breast cancer, the type where estrogen fuels the growth of the cancer. Hormones, according to the researchers, are most certainly involved.
It's no secret that over the last 20 years the numbers of overweight and obese adults have been climbing to new heights. Nearly a third of Americans are obese today and the UK tops the charts of obesity in Europe. Experts speculate that obese and overweight women also have increased levels of estrogen circulating in their blood, and this supports the growth of some cancerous cells.
This latest project involved almost 4,000 female subjects who had also been diagnosed with an invasive breast cancer in the years 1995 to 2006, with 262 deaths.
The team examined the body mass index (BMI) of the women at age eighteen and again at when they were diagnosed. Subjects who were obese (BMI over 30) had a 69% increased chance of dying from the disease than those who were in the healthy (BMI 18.5 to 24.9) weight range. That increased risk also applied to the overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9) subjects who were already carrying that extra weight at 18 years old.
It's not just the strength of the link between body weight at the point of diagnosis, but what you weigh years before that's showing itself to be important according to experts.
The findings of this study suggest the weight you are in your late teens matters more than anyone every thought.
For those with estrogen dependent forms of breast cancer, the greater their BMI, the greater the odds they would not survive. This link didn't hold for those with the estrogen negative form of disease.
The authors point out that keeping your weight in the healthy range is a smart move when it comes to preventing cancer. And while you can't help things like getting older, when you first started your period, your genetics, or treatments you (or your mother) may have had, you CAN do something about what you put into your body.
To maximize your chances of preventing or surviving breast cancer don't drink alcohol to excess. Eat healthy and balanced meals, without getting too hung up on the latest cancer fighting food. The American Cancer Society has dietary guidelines that are a great place to start. You'll also want to be sure you get the right amount of exercise so that you keep your body weight in the healthy range. Schedule activity as you do other important events, because if you don't make being active a priority, it won't get done, and you won't get the many benefits to body and mind of regular exercise.
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