The Breast Cancer Blog » November 2008
November 19, 2008
Calorie Restriction Lowers Breast Cancer Risk
It's long been known that regular diet and exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. A new study done on obese, post-menopausal mice may have uncovered one of the reasons why.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that cutting calories and exercise affect pathways to mTOR, a molecule that integrates energy balance with cell growth and can contribute to various human diseases when it is not functioning properly.
It appears, however, that exercise affects a different pathway than calorie restriction and that calorie restriction works better overall than exercise in preventing cancer. The calorie-restricted mice had much better hormone profiles than mice allowed to gorge or mice who exercised but didn't lower caloric intake.
"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," [study author Leticia M.] Nogueira said.
This is yet more proof that a way of eating called calorie restriction (not to be confused with dieting or anorexia) can prevent age-related disease.
November 17, 2008
Wealthy Women More Likely to Have Breast Reconstruction
Wealthy women and more educated women are more likely to have breast construction after mastectomies, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers. They also found that black women are less likely to undergo reconstruction.
"The community a patient lives in actually does influence, in some way, the access they have to breast reconstruction," said lead researcher Dr. Gedge D. Rosson, an assistant professor of plastic surgery. "We need to learn more about why that is."
The researchers weren't sure what the exact reason for this was, but said women in these communities should be informed about their options through educational and informative community programs.
The researchers think educational programs should be developed to let these women know the benefits of breast reconstruction.
