Doing
housework can reduce a woman's chance of getting cancer, research
suggests.
Researchers found the risk of endometrial cancer was cut by
as much as 30% by physical activity such as household chores
and walking.
Another study showed the chances of surviving breast cancer
were also improved by taking exercise.
All the findings were presented at the American Association
for Cancer Research's annual meeting in Orlando.
There was greater protection for women who did more than four
hours of chores a day than for those who did less than two hours.
Women who walked for 60 minutes a day were also better protected
than those who walked less than 30 minutes a day.
"The
risk of cancer can be reduced by maintaining an active lifestyle"
--- Dr Charles Matthews
The researchers
at Vanderbilt University in the US and the Shanghai Cancer Institute
in China looked at 832 women with endometrial cancer and a control
population who did not have the disease.
Dr Charles Matthews, at the university, said: "We were particularly
pleased to see the beneficial effect on endometrial cancer risk
of more accessible and lower intensity forms of activity like
walking for transportation and doing household chores, as well
as intentional exercise.
Results 'encouraging'
"Our results support the idea that the risk of cancer can be
reduced by maintaining an active lifestyle."
A separate study by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital
and Harvard University, also presented to the Orlando meeting,
found the risk of death for women who had breast cancer was
up to 54% less for women who took exercise.
The optimum amount of exercise for reducing risk was between
nine and 14.9 met-hours per week.
A met hour is the energy expenditure and caloric requirement
at rest. One hour of walking is equivalent to three met-hours.
Clare Stevensin, a Cancer Research UK researcher at the department
of exercise and health sciences at the University of Bristol,
said the findings of the endometrial cancer research were "encouraging".
She said: "Some levels of housework are hard enough to have
a physiological effect. It doesn't have to be a huge amount
of high intensity stuff. But the more you do, the better."
While the results of the breast cancer study backed the idea
that exercise can improve survival rates or reduce tumour size,
more research was needed in this area, she said.
Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer,
said: "While some studies suggest exercise might improve quality
of life after breast cancer diagnosis, very little is still
known about the influence of this and other lifestyle factors.
"Breakthrough generally recommends that all women exercise regularly
in order to maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of
other diseases and while we welcome these results, more studies
are needed before firm conclusions can be made."
Doing
housework can reduce a woman's chance of getting cancer, research
suggests.
