5 Simple Things That Could Cut Your Breast Cancer Risk

You can't change most things that increase your odds of getting breast cancer. But building the following five priorities into your life may cut your risk—or make it more likely you’ll find cancer early, when it's more easily treated.1. Limit yourself to two or three alcoholic drinks a week.2. Exercise at least three times a week (more often is better). And when you do exercise, work to keep your heart rate above its baseline level for a minimum of 20 continuous minutes.
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3. Maintain your body weight, or lose weight if you're overweight. Research shows that being overweight or obese (especially if you're past menopause) increases your risk, especially if you put on the weight as an adult. And a study released in March 2008 by researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston showed that obese and overweight women also had lower breast cancer survival rates and a greater chance of more aggressive disease than average-weight or underweight women.4. Do a monthly self breast self-exam. Be sure to get proper instruction from your doctor and have your technique reviewed regularly. You might catch a lump before a mammogram does, and it's a good idea to follow changes in your body.5. Have a mammogram once a year after 40. Catching a tumor early boosts the chance of survival significantly: The five-year survival rate can be as high as 98% for the earliest stage localized disease but hovers around 27% for distant-stage, or metastatic, disease.