150 MINUTES OF EXERCISE PER WEEK IS RECOMMENDED

“There are many things beyond our individual control that affect breast cancer risk, such as family history, genetics, reproductive factors and breast density. That said, there are also many modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, such as physical inactivity, obesity, alcohol consumption and use of hormone replacement therapy. We know that maintaining a healthy weight and an active lifestyle—150 minutes of exercise per week is recommended—decreases your risk. And limiting alcohol intake to less than one drink per day, on average, or abstaining altogether, reduces it further. Breast cancer risk is five percent higher in women who consume one drink per day as compared to those who don’t consume alcohol.” “A callback is common, particularly if you’re embarking on imaging for the first time. Mammography has a fairly good detection rate when looking at one image, but accuracy is improved when comparisons between mammograms can be made. When you’re in your 40s and 50s and moving from premenopause to menopause, your breasts go through several changes; this fluctuation in breast tissue can affect the images. So, although callbacks are frequent, only a small set of women require further testing, such as a biopsy, of which 80 percent are likely to return with benign or noncancerous diagnoses.”