Smoking and Weight Gain Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Aside from being born with hereditary breast cancer,on a sample of women without BRCA1 and BRCA2
specialists at the Universite de Montreal believe thatgene mutations, which are often found in
being overweight and smoking have a huge effectFrench-Canadian women," she explained. According to
on whether a woman develops the condition, whichthe research, smoking a pack of 20 cigarettes every
affects over 45,000 people year in the UK.day for nine years increases breast cancer risk by 59
Healthcare experts at the facility conducted a studyper cent.
of test subjects and found a direct correlationIn addition, women who put on more than 10kgs in
between breast cancer, smoking and beingweight after the age of 30 are twice as likely to
overweight.develop the disease than those whose body mass
This was achieved by analysing whether the patientsremains stable. The investigation also found that
had the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations andmoderate physical activity decreased cancer risks by
shows that cancer cover holders should avoid these52 per cent for pre-menopausal and post-menopausal
two risk factors, said lead researcher Vishneewomen, with Dr Bissonauth saying this illustrates the
Bissonauth. The expert, who is a graduate of theneed for breast cancer insurance customers to
Universite de Montreal's Department of Nutrition andexercise frequently.
a researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital"Cancer is a complex disease and can be latent for
Research Center, said the team focused solely onseveral years. Therefore, it is important to work on
lifestyle factors when considering the informationthe factors we can control and to lead a healthy
they had collected.lifestyle, which means watching one's weight, avoid
"To our knowledge, this is the first study conductedsmoking and doing regular exercise," she advised.