Walking for an hour and a half every day could reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer by 30 per cent, claim scientists.
They
say that doing ten hours of gentle exercise a week – which includes
household chores – drastically cuts the likelihood of the illness for
all age-groups. American
scientists believe that being active helps prevent the formation of
fatty tissue, which in turn is known to trigger cancerous tumours.
They compared the lifestyles of 3,059 women aged 20 to 98, including 1,504 patients who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Each
woman was asked to record how much physical activity she did a week,
which included walking, household chores, cycling and jogging.
They
found that women who did ten to 19 hours of exercise a week were 30 per
cent less likely to have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This amounts to between an hour and a half to nearly three hours daily.
Currently
the Department of Health recommends that adults take at least two and a
half hours’ exercise a week, which ideally includes some intense
activity. But Lauren McCullough, from the
University of North Carolina, insisted women did not necessarily need to
go near a gym to reap the benefits.
