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Bewegen bevordert overleven bij borstkanker wel tot 50%.*
Uit een studie onder 3.000 vrouwen die tussen 1984 en 1998 de diagnose borstkanker kregen blijkt dat bewegen de dood door borstkanker sterk kan verlagen. 3 tot 5 uur per week wandelen of 2 uur joggen is voldoende om de overlevingskansen met 50% te doen toenemen. Meer bewegen geeft geen betere resultaten, minder zeker wel.
Exercise Boosts Breast Cancer Survival
Just three to five
hours weekly could cut risk of breast cancer death dramatically, researchers say.
Just three to five hours weekly
could cut risk of breast cancer death dramatically
-- If you have breast
cancer and have undergone
treatment for it, there's one more thing you can do to increase the odds you'll
survive the disease: exercise.
The good news is
that you don't have to run marathons to reap the benefits: Women who spent three
to five hours of walking or two hours of jogging a week cut their risk of death
from breast cancer by 50 percent, according to a study in the
May 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Women with
breast cancer have little to lose and much to gain from exercise," said
study author Dr. Michelle Holmes, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School. "Exercise contributes to better moods, higher self-esteem
and it fights other diseases like heart disease and diabetes. And exercise may help women with breast cancer to
avoid dying from that disease."
Holmes was quick to
point out, however, that exercise doesn't replace any form of treatment.
In the study,
Holmes and her colleagues suggest that exercise reduces levels of the hormone
estrogen, which acts as a fuel for many breast cancers.
"Estrogen in
the body is the primary factor involved in breast cancer and breast cancer
risk," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer for
the American Cancer Society. "Anything we do for prevention -- losing
weight, not drinking alcohol -- is directed at lowering estrogen. And, in all
populations, physical activity decreases the amount of estrogen
circulating in the body."
In a prospective
observational study, Holmes and her colleagues followed breast cancer survivors
from two years after their treatment until their death or June 2002, whichever
came first.
Almost 3,000 women
were included in the analysis. All were enrolled in the ongoing Nurse's Health
Study and had been diagnosed with stage I, II or III breast cancer between 1984
and 1998.
The researchers
asked the women about their physical activity seven different times throughout
the study period. Their physical activities were assigned a metabolic equivalent
score (MET) based on the energy used for that activity. Sitting quietly for an
hour is one MET hour, while walking at an average pace of 2 to 2.9 mph for an
hour is the equivalent of three MET hours. Jogging for an hour is seven MET
hours and running for an hour is 12 MET hours.
Survival benefits
were seen starting at three to 8.9 MET hours a week. Women who exercised 3 to
8.9 MET hours a week had a 20 percent decrease in the risk of death from breast
cancer, compared to women who exercised less than three MET hours a week. Women
who exercised nine to 14.9 MET hours a week cut their risk of dying by 50
percent.
However, greater
amounts of exercise than that didn't seem to confer greater breast cancer
survival benefits.
Women who exercised
for 15 to 23.9 MET hours had a 44 percent risk reduction, while women who did
more than 24 MET hours of exercise weekly had a 40 percent decrease in their
risk of dying from breast cancer.
Holmes said she was
surprised the risk reduction from exercise leveled off, and that there wasn't
additional benefit from additional exercise.
After 10 years, the
absolute unadjusted risk of dying from breast cancer was reduced by 6 percent
for women who exercised at least nine MET hours a week.
"Exercise
confers a small benefit, but it's there. Every little bit helps, and it's
something women can easily do," said Saslow. Plus, she added, women should
be physically active for the overall health benefits exercise confers, not just
to reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer.
"Most women
survive breast cancer and die from heart disease later," Saslow said.
She said the
American Cancer Society recommends that anyone who isn't currently exercising
should try to work up to 30 minutes a day at least five times a week, after
checking with their doctor to make sure they can safely exercise.
And, she added,
anyone who's already active should aim for 45 minutes to 60 minutes of daily
activity that is slightly more than moderately paced most days of the week.
(Mei 2005)