Beating cancer What you can do to help yourself

What to do to reduce the risk: Vigorous exercise appears to have the best protective effect pre-menopause. After that, walking and gardening daily. Breast-feed, if you have a baby. Stay slim – obesity increases the chance of breast cancer after the menopause.

What not to do: Drink alcohol. One glass of wine increases risk by 5 per cent in pre-menopausal women, rising to 9 per cent after that.