Daily HealthBeat Tip

Walking away from breast cancer.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this is HHS Healthbeat.

A new study says that being physically active seems to help women with breast cancer improve their chances of beating the disease. The report in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the amount of walking or other activities that the women did.

The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that it didn�t take a lot to raise the odds of survival. Researcher Michelle Holmes of Brigham and Women�s Hospital and Harvard Medical School:

"Compared to the most inactive women, just about any amount of physical activity was linked with a lower risk of death from breast cancer."

Any amount? Well, the study found that women who did as little as an hour�s worth of walking a week got a benefit. And the maximum benefit came with being active on the level of walking three to five hours a week.

The authors also note, though, that women often become less active after diagnosis.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: July 12, 2005

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