High insulin levels enhance breast cancer risk

Elevated insulin levels in the blood seem to raise the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women, according to a new study.

Increased breast cancer risk for post-menopausal women has previously been linked to obesity and diabetes. Both conditions involve insulin resistance, which causes increases in circulating levels of insulin.

Since insulin is known to promote cell division and enhance breast tumour growth in animal models, Einstein College of Medicine scientists reasoned that relatively high insulin levels may contribute to breast cancer risk in women.

"Up to now, only a few studies have directly investigated whether insulin levels are associated with breast cancer risk, and those studies have yielded conflicting results," says Geoffrey Geoffrey Kabat, senior epidemiologist at Einstein and the study's co-author.

"Those other studies were based on just a single baseline measurement of insulin, while our study involved analysing repeated measurements of insulin taken over several years - which provides a more accurate picture of the possible association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk."

Kabat and colleagues analysed data on 5,450 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large multi-centre study investigating the influence of a number of factors on women's health.

Most of the women had participated in the clinical trial part of the study and provided fasting blood samples at its start (baseline) and then at years one, three and six.

The remaining women, who were enrolled in a separate "observational" component of the study, provided fasting blood samples at baseline and at year three of the study. Among all these women, 190 cases of breast cancer were identified over eight years of follow-up.

The analysis revealed a strong association between elevated insulin levels and increased risk for breast cancer, said an Einstein release. These findings were published in online in the International Journal of Cancer. –The Times of India

Walnuts can help keep breast cancer at bay

Good morning friends. Those who were crazy eating walnuts, it has a use to the women’s body. Walnuts can help keep breast cancer. Aside from the good taste of it, women out there can enjoy breast cancer free.



Walnuts contain compounds that reduce the risk of breast cancer, claims a new study.
Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine, said that while her study was done with laboratory animals rather than humans, people should heed the recommendation to eat more walnuts.

"Walnuts are better than cookies, french fries or potato chips when you need a snack," said Hardman.

"We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases," the expert added.

To reach the conclusion, researchers studied mice that were fed a diet that they estimated was the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts per day. A separate group of mice were fed a control diet.

Standard testing showed that walnut consumption significantly decreased breast tumor incidence, the number of glands with a tumor and tumor size.

"These laboratory mice typically have 100 percent tumor incidence at five months; walnut consumption delayed those tumors by at least three weeks," said Hardman.
Molecular analysis showed that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids contributed to the decline in tumor incidence, but other parts of the walnut contributed as well.

"With dietary interventions you see multiple mechanisms when working with the whole food," said Hardman.

"It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer," the expert added.

The study has been presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009. (ANI) - Yahoo

Exercise cuts risk of breast cancer death

Good morning friends. Women should be aware with their body. As I have published an article about Jade Goody who has a cervical cancer, women should be aware of every thing. With reference to Yahoo News, Women who are physically fit are less likely to die from breast cancer. We have to take precautions.

It was found that those women with moderate or high aerobic fitness levels were much less likely to die from breast cancer "Women in the lowest fitness category were nearly three times more likely to die from breast cancer than women in the most fit group." "This is the first study to evaluate the association of objectively measured fitness and risk of dying from breast cancer."

"The results suggest a stronger protective effect than has been seen in most studies on self-reported physical activity and breast cancer, probably because the objective laboratory test of fitness is more accurate that self-reports of activity."

Women who do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, like walking, per week will escape the low fitness category. Even better for some women, this activity can be accumulated in 10-minute bouts."

It has also found that women with high aerobic fitness had lower body mass index, better cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and fewer chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Exercise, calorie restricted diet 'lowers postmenopausal women's breast cancer risk'

Good morning friends. After reading news I want to share it to everyone specially to women out there. It's important.

Regular exercise and reduced-calorie diet can significantly cut breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women, suggests a new study.

The research team from University of Texas at Austin have identified pathways by which calorie restriction and exercise can modify a postmenopausal woman's risk of breast cancer. They found that both caloric restriction and exercise affect pathways leading to mTOR, a molecule involved in integrating energy balance with cell growth. Dysregulation of the mTOR pathway is a contributing factor to various human diseases, including cancers.

Diet and exercise reach mTOR through different means, with calorie restriction affecting more upstream pathways, which could explain why caloric restriction is more efficient in delaying tumour growth than exercise in animal models. "One of the few breast cancer modifiable risk factors is obesity," said lead author Leticia M. Nogueira, Ph.D., a research graduate assistant at the University of Texas.

"Our study may provide a good scientific basis for medical recommendations. If you're obese, and at high risk for breast cancer, diet and exercise could help prevent tumour growth," she added.
The research suggests that inducing a so-called "negative energy balance" (where less energy is taken in than expended) through eating a low-calorie diet or increasing exercise levels, decreases the postmenopausal breast cancer risk associated with obesity. Increased levels of leptin and decreased levels of adiponectin have been associated with breast cancer risk.

For eight weeks, they administered a high-fat diet to 45 mice that had their ovaries surgically removed to model the post-menopausal state.

During week nine of the study, the diet-induced obese mice were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group, permitted to eat at will; a group fed a diet reduced in calories by 30 percent; and a group that was permitted to eat at will but exercised on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day, five days a week. At week 16, researchers collected tissue from the mice for analysis.
The study showed that blood levels of leptin, a hormone that plays a role in fat metabolism, were significantly reduced in the calorie-restricted mice while blood levels of adiponectin showed an increase.

She also found that the key proteins found downstream of mTOR activation were less active in both the calorie-restricted and exercised mice compared to the controls. "These data suggest that although exercise can act on similar pathways as caloric restriction, caloric restriction possesses a more global effect on cell signaling and, therefore, may produce a more potent anti-cancer effect," Nogueira said.

The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research. (ANI)