After breast cancer, how can you reduce risk of a second breast cancer?
Breast cancer patients in the U.S. have a five-year survival rate of 90 percent.
That’s great news that should give hope to thousands of women who are diagnosed every year. But those women need to be aware that they can significantly improve their chances of survival with some key health choices.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center recruited 365 women who had experienced breast cancer, followed by a second breast cancer diagnosis. Case histories of these women were compared to more than 700 women who had experienced only one breast cancer.
RESULTS:
- Obesity increases risk of a second breast cancer by 50 percent
- Drinking more than one alcoholic beverage each day increases risk by 90 percent
- Smoking increases risk by 120 percent
Source:
“Reducing the Risk for Second Breast Cancers” Ivanhoe Newswires, 9/9/09, ivanhoe.com
