Medicine has already done a great deal to slow down the progression of breast cancer in the Western world just through better awareness of timely mammogram screenings, improved treatment regimens and earlier diagnoses. If women want to improve their odds of avoiding breast cancer by up to 30 percent, however, the responsibility is on them to incorporate more exercise and better eating habits in their daily routines, according to experts addressing the influence of lifestyle changes on breast cancer at a recent health conference in Spain.
As one health expert from the University of Milan put it rather deliberately to the AP about the commitment patients must make outside the doctor's office to avoid breast cancer, "What can be achieved with screening has been achieved. We can't do much more. It's time to move onto other things."
This sentiment certainly coincides with a report we discussed in this space late last year about the modestly falling rates of cancer diagnoses and mortality rates among Americans, and how lifestyle changes would greatly accelerate those numbers.
Here's one possibly very harmful disconnect: Despite eye-opening evidence the obesity epidemic contributes to the spread of all kinds of cancer among women including breast cancer, a few health advocates still downplay that obvious link, fearing some patients may come to believe the medical profession is blaming them for their own health problems. (Still, this observation rings very hollow to me, as I expect it does to all of you reading this post.)
There's no better time than right now -- April is National Cancer Control Month -- to take better responsibility for your health. In fact, an exercise program are great ways to get started.
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USA Today March 25, 2010