[beachgal]

I found this in an article in my newest Redbook magazine and thought it would be good to share (bolding is original to the article). Scary news, but at least we know we're doing something to fix it!

Overweight Women Are More Likely To Develop--And Die From--Breast Cancer

Very few of us can boast that we still fit into our high school prom dresses, but if you've gained more than 20 pounds since your 18th birthday, your risk of developing breast cancer is 40 percent higher compared with those who stay within 5 pounds of their teenage weight, research from ACS [American Cancer Society] shows. Excess pounds also lower your risk of survival: Breast cancer sufferers with a body mass index (BMI, a measure of body fat baed on height and weight) of 25 to 29 are 34 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than those at a normal weight, according to a major review from the Hutchinson Center [Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle]. And obese women (those with a BMI of 30 plus) are 63 percent less likely to survive.

"When you're obese, you have higher insulin levels, which promotes cancerous cell growth," explains review author Anne McTiernan, M.D., director of the Prevention Center at the Hutchinson Center. Another explanation for poor survival rates: Almost 40 percent of severely obese women get a significantly lower dose of chemo than they need, according to research at the University of Rochester. "The heavier you are, the more chemo you need to wipe out cancer—and some physicians are scared to give such massive doses to patients,” says Griggs, who authored the study.

However, there is some reassuring news for those who are heavyset: Losing weight at any age can help cut breast cancer risk. Finding in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveal that postmenopausal women who lost 22 pounds were 57 percent less likely to develop the disease compared with those who maintained their weight.

It's a really good article...goes on to say that women on a low-fat, veggie-rich diet are safer from breast cancer and that women who exercise are less likely to develop breast cancer. That's good to hear.

[dixied]

I'm glad you posted this, I had read it too. I hope everyone gets their yearly mammogram and does their monthly self-exam. I had a ping-pong sized tumor removed last year and I was only 34. The recommended age for yearly mammograms is now 40. Without a regular self-exam, I would probably have been dead before they found it, because it was a fast growing type.

Moral of this ramble: Do the monthly self exams (no matter what your age) and get your mammogram done yearly if your're over 40!

[K8-EEE]

So totally motivating, thank you very much for posting this.