Breast cancer vs exercise: Which one wins?

About 1 in every 8 women will suffer breast cancer in their lifetime. But a study shows that most women don’t do the one thing that can help flip the odds of surviving in their favor.

The University of North Carolina did a study that looked at both pre- and postdiagnosis physical activity of 1735 women between 20 and 74 years old who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2008 and 2011.

Despite much evidence that exercise after diagnosis can help lessen the side effects of treatment, can wipe away fatigue and depression, and has been shown to reduce risk of recurrence and improve survival … women were exercising less than before the diagnosis.

The Chapel Hill researchers found that only 35 percent of these women were exercising enough.

Unfortunately, the study shows, about 60 percent of women who had survived breast cancer were exercising less than they were before being diagnosed. African-American women were exercising even less than white women. The researchers believe that this difference is a factor in causing black women to die more often from breast cancer.

“Medical care providers should discuss the role physical activity plays in improving breast cancer outcomes with their patients, and strategies that may be successful in increasing physical activity among breast cancer patients need to be comprehensively evaluated and implemented,” says researcher Brionna Hair.

So this might be the simplest piece of health advice you ever hear if you’re a woman:

Exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer, no matter what. By as much as 25 percent.

It doesn’t matter what type of exercise you do, how old you are, how much you weigh, or when you get started.