New research suggests that if girls and young women exercise regularly it may cut their risk of breast cancer before the menopause by up to a quarter.

A massive new study of nearly 65,000 women published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and carried out by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and Harvard University in Boston, showed that keeping active can help protect against developing the disease before the age of 50, compared to those who are less active.

 

It seems that high levels of activity between the ages of 12 to 22 offer the most protection. The study which is the largest of its kind found that most active women were running or doing around three hours of exercise a week, with the total amount of exercise they did more important than the type of exercise they did or its intensity. It is thought that exercise can help lower breast cancer risk because it lowers levels of the hormone oestrogen which is known to increase breast cancer risk.

A study of 185, 000 post menopausal women from the University of Chicago – one of the largest of its kind – suggests that just two glasses of wine a day can increase the risk of breast cancer by more than a half. A single glass of wine a day raises the risk by almost a third.

The study which was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference in San Diego revealed a close link between drinking patterns and the development of the most common form of breast cancer – a form that is fuelled by the sex hormone oestrogen. It is thought that alcohol stops the liver from breaking down oestrogen, the hormone that can fuel breast cancer. The link applied to wine, beer and spirits but beer raised the threat slightly more than wine and wine proved more dangerous than spirits. Overall women who had more than one alcoholic drink a day were seven percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who were non drinkers. Two drinks raised the risk by 22 per cent and three increased the risk by 51 per cent.

 

This study adds to the growing evidence that links alcohol to a disease which kills more than a thousand women a month and experts believe that alcohol may be the main reason why rates of breast cancer are surging in the UK. Drinking is also blamed for increasing numbers of women suffering fertility problems.

A recent study has shown that butyl benzyl phthalate, or BBP, a chemical found in lipstick and nail varnish may interfere with the healthy development of breast tissue. BBP is a man made substance that accumulates in fat tissue and which is part of a group of chemicals that mimic the female hormone oestrogen.

Phthalates are frequently used to make cosmetics glossy or soften plastics and are also found in food packaging, toys, carpets and solvents. Other studies have found a link between them and birth defects, kidney problems and infertility. The concern has been so great that they have been banned in teething rings and babies’ dummies across Europe.

 

Now, according to research from the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia, BBP could increase the risks of breast cancer. Scientists fed rats with BBP which was then absorbed by their offspring via breast milk and the chemical altered the genetic make-up of cells in the young female rat’s mammary glands. The researchers speculated that the same alterations could happen in humans who are over exposed.

 

The Women’s Environmental Network said phthalates were present in four out of five cosmetic products on sale in Britain and is campaigning to see them removed from all cosmetics, including hair spray and moisturiser, because of the possibility that trace elements are being absorbed by the skin.