With over 1.5 million cases worldwide every year, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women.
Breast cancer may be caused due to obesity, lack of physical exercise, drinking alcohol, hormone replacement therapy during menopause, early age at first menstruation, having children late or not at all, older age, prior history of breast cancer, and family history. It can be treated with surgery, targeted therapy, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy.
But prevention is always better than cure. Thus, several efforts are being put to study this type of cancer and find ways to counteract on it.
A new study from the US has suggested that the risk of developing breast cancer can be reduced by eating all the meals within an eight-hour period. A study was conducted on obese mice and it showed that time-restricted access to food within eight hours could improve metabolic health and decrease the risk of breast cancer development and growth, says a press release by the Endocrine Society.
‘The anti-tumour effect of time-restricted eating is at least partially due to lower levels of insulin, suggesting this intervention may be effective in breast cancer prevention and therapy,’ according to the researcher, Dr Manasi Das at the University of California, San Diego, quoted in the press release.
There are also some other measures besides eating within an eight hour period that can help to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.
They are as follows:
- Exercise Regularly: Regular exercises help to keep the body fit and physically
active. It also keeps control over your weight which is necessary to prevent breast cancer as obesity is closely linked to breast cancer.
- A Balanced Diet: A balanced diet is a diet which includes all the nutrients the body requires in appropriate proportions. It is known to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart diseases and breast cancer.
- Breast-Feed: According to some studies, breastfeeding is also known to play a major role in the prevention of breast cancer. The longer you breastfeed, the greater the protective effect. A study showed that late pregnancies and a short period of breastfeeding are a major reason for the increasing number of breast cancer cases globally.
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Limit alcohol.
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Don’t smoke.