In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we want to help raise awareness and encourage action toward prevention

In the first of a two blog series, we highlight the relationship between diabetes and breast cancer. 

A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2012 that found “the risk of breast cancer in women with Type 2 diabetes is increased by 27 percent, a figure that decreased to 16 percent after adjustment for BMI.” This means that even when researchers controlled for overweight and obesity, there was still a 16% increased risk of getting breast cancer if diabetes was present.

This elevated risk of breast cancer is observed in Type 2 diabetes and among post-menopausal women.

If we dig a little deeper, it seems that both breast cancer and diabetes share risk factors associated with insulin resistance, including overweight or obesity, physical inactivity and genetics.

There also seems to be a relationship between the duration and severity of diabetes and the occurrence of breast cancer.  It seems as diabetes progresses and affects the health of the body systems, the risk of breast cancer also increases.

Is there anything women can do to prevent diabetes and breast cancer?

The good news is yes. Women can reduce their risk of getting breast cancer by 15% by getting active, losing weight, and improving the nutritional quality of the foods consumed.

And, according to the Diabetes Prevention Program, people can reduce their risk of getting diabetes by up to 58% by losing 5-7% of their body weight and exercising for 150 minutes a week.

By investing in health on a daily basis the risk of breast cancer and diabetes decrease. It’s worth the work!

For more info:

• See article published in US News Health here
• Register for our Level 4 Online Course – Cancer and Diabetes