14 DAY TRIAL // A group of researchers from the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) found in a new study that women who stick by the minimum physical exercise recommendations following a breast cancer diagnostic are 25 percent more likely to survive the condition.
Current exercise recommendations are 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. The group found that adhering to these minimal guidelines reduces the incidence of deaths for breast cancer in women diagnosed with this condition by around a quarter.
The Berkeley Lab study – published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Cancer – suggests that women who are more physically active than recommended may benefit from an even higher protection against this dreadful condition. The group also found that, for preventing early death, running is better than walking.
These results were derived from a study of participants in the National Runners’ and Walkers’ Health Study, which included 986 breast cancer survivors. The investigation was led by researcher Paul Williams, who holds an appointment with the Life Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab.
Of the test population, 714 participants reported that they tended to walk more than run, while 272 reported running more often than walking. Around 33 people from the first group died from breast cancer over a period of 9 years, whereas only 13 of the 272 runners did the same.
“If I were a breast cancer survivor, I would certainly consider running or some other vigorous exercise over walking, and I wouldn’t just be doing the minimum, with the consequences and potential benefit being so great,” Williams says.
The expert goes on to say that these conclusions should not be interpreted as implying that walking – as a form of physical exercise – does not have any benefits on warding off early death caused by breast cancer. Rather, it shows that the benefits of running are more significant.
Additionally, Williams admits, the number of participants in this study was much smaller than those in other studies showing significant health benefits derived from walking as a form of therapy.