The New England Journal Of Medicine has recently released the results of a 14-year study involving 25,624 Norwegian women, ages 20-54 years old at the time they began the study (I. Thune et al., "Physical Activity and the Risk of breast Cancer," New England Journal of Medicine 336,18 [1997], 1269-75) Results were surprising.

The researchers investigated the relationship between exercise and the incidence of breast cancer and discovered that those women who exercised at least four hours a week, cross-trained or did competitive sports equally as often, had a 37% lower incidence of breast cancer than the study-women who did not exercise.

There were exceptions, though; postmenopausal women and overweight women were not as well-protected by exercise as were pre- or menopausal women. There was also some speculation  that the less active or sedentary group may have drunk more alcohol too, and alcohol consumption in anything other than light use is viewed as a breast cancer risk.

Cancer epidemiologist Regina Ziegler of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland was quite excited about the results of the study because of the fact that one could manipulate this particular risk factor (exercise) in order to minimize one's risk for getting breast cancer.

The study also showed, according to Ms. Ziegler, that it is not just genes that determine breast cancer risk. In fact, she goes on to say, genes probably play a smaller role in breast cancer risk factors than previously thought.

According to the state of today's research, it seems that exercising may well be a way of reducing the risk of breast cancer along with other so-called "genetic predispositions". It has been this writer's long-held belief that at least some of what is attributable to "genes" is rather more a question of "familial lifestyles" being passed on from one generation to the next, not necessarily the genetic codes.

For example, a woman whose lifestyle is sedentary and obesity-related  more than likely  is expending fewer calories than she ingests. Foods that are high in fats and are regularly eaten in the family could contribute to breast cancer. Let us hypothesize that this woman dies of breast cancer. It is possible that her children will embrace similar eating and lifestyle habits simply because that is what they learned growing up. If, then, the adult female child of the now-deceased breast cancer victim also succumbs to breast cancer, it is a natural (although not necessarily scientific) jump to assume that the "breast cancer gene" was passed from mother to daughter when in fact it may have been the unhealthy lifestyle that was passed on.

Breast cancer may indeed turn out to be biologically determined at least to some degree, but "genetic lifestyles" too, need to be addressed in the matter of breast cancer. When lack of exercise is one of the risk factors that CAN be changed, why take the chance?