I know we all heave a big sigh when it seems that we are being blamed for bringing BC on ourselves, and I think one thing not mentioned in this report (of course it may be in the actual Cancer Research UK report) is the effect that some of the older HRT treatments had as a BC factor. I haven’t looked up the CRUK report directly yet. ETA **(The risk factor section includes HRT, especially the older forms as a risk factor)**
Personally, I’d like to know how *simple* it is for a woman who is juggling a full-time job and family responsibilities to fit in regular exercise. It’s one thing to walk half an hour each way to the shops if you aren’t working, but if you are working you may not have that hour just for walking, and you may simply stop off on the way home from work or drive the kids to Saturday music or sports, drive to the shops, then pick up the kids and drive home. Swimming baths tend to be given over to schools and children’s clubs at the times many of us might have free for swimming and Ladies Lunchtime sessions may not coincide with a working woman’s lunch break, even if the pool is near enough to be practical. It would take me a number of buses and well over an hour to travel the few miles to work I can normally drive in 40-45 minutes (in itself ridiculous for the distance), plus I have a very large briefcase.
And of course, many of us wind up eating more rushed, less than healthy meals because of the same constraints on time and energy. I work in an inner city area, and very few people would feel safe walking in one of the local parks and sitting on a bench there to have lunch, unless part of a group. (At least our canteen offers not-too-unhealthy sandwiches with green salad as well as plates of chips.) I’ve noticed that when work has been particularly stressful and demanding, I snack a lot more during the evening and at weekends; I regularly bring work home with me.
Thanks for posting that, Cheryl, another bit of stuff to read and digest. Hopefully not as sensationalist as the “IT’S ALL YOUR OWN FAULT!” stuff that’s been bandied around recently. Not that it matters that much to us (well the what caused it bit doesn’t because we’ve got it already anyhow) but the survival rates look better, and I’m all for finding the good news.
We all have choices and if something is important to us we can choose to make time for it, no matter how difficult.
Take the stairs at work, walk for at least 15min in your lunch break. Walk with the kids down to the newsagent for that loaf of bread. Weekends, just get outside. Order your groceries online so that you have time on the weekends to exercise and not to shop. Wear comfortable shoes so that anytime you are walking it is good for you and not a strain on your legs and feet. You must be in a VERy dangerous city not to be even safe to walk confidently and briskly in your area, in the middle of the day. Wii fit, yoga, dvd’s for inside workouts
Cheryl and Gretchen, I agree with you both. Sometimes with the pressures of daily life it seems impossible to find half a minute to even have a wee, let alone half an hour to go for a walk. Just TAKING a lunchbreak let alone finding 15 mins in it for walking can be a mere dream, particularly in very busy and pressured jobs with tight deadlines looming. Yes, I know it’s a legal requirement to have a break but in the real world there are so many people who just work through lunch, or sit at their desks reading work stuff while they eat a sandwich.
But little changes can add up to a big difference in activity levels, so taking the stairs rather than the lift might be one small change to increase activity levels just a bit. I’m NOT going to take on the guilt that would be so easy to take, but I will try to make the little changes that could improve my chances of being in that 75% group. I think that’s all we can realistically ask for.
I had to give up walking up and down the stairs with my oversized briefcase when one knee gave out on me, a damaged ligament. Most of my lunch break is spent on paperwork and standing over the photocopier in unpaid time. I’m a teacher, so I spend as much time standing as sitting during classes. I always wear comfortable shoes.
Walking up and down pavements is also hard on a bad knee, even with an elastic bandage, especially when said pavements have not been repaired for years. The main danger in the park is bag snatching; there is no secure place at work to leave anything of value as a number of us know to our cost.
Teachers, especially those who are sessionally paid and not salaried, don’t make enough money to have food delivered or to buy expensive toys like Wiis.
When I was home when my kids were little, I walked miles to the shops, partly because I didn’t always have bus fare. Corner shops tend to have unhealthy food at high prices. I can still out-walk many people decades younger than myself on flat ground, but when I am at work I don’t have time for leisure walking, like many other women.
I always put my children ahead of leisure for myself, again, like many other women. Too many women are trying to do two or more full time jobs.
When will I switch on the TV/Radio and hear an accurate story about this disease?
When will I hear a “spokesperson” say that breast cancer is not one disease it is many. And that each of those types and sub-types and sub-sub-sub-types has its own histology, treatments, prognoses and CAUSES?
When will I hear the cancer charities and spokespeople admit that in all honesty they haven’t a clue what is going on and that correlation in data does NOT mean causation?
When will I be able to stop getting furious about half-cocked quotes in the media regarding “exercise and diet” being able to prevent it? All of which leads to people apportioning blame to those of us afflicted with this disease - and deludes the wider population into thinking that they have much control over this.
Kylie Minogue, Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Saunders - yeah what a bunch of flabby old couch potatoes they are eh?
Cancer Research - wake up and stop perpetuating these lazy half truths in the media.
The reality is that in spite of the billions poured into researching this disease they are nowhere nearer a cure or innovative treatment than they were 30 years ago - so rather than hold their hands up and admit they haven’t a clue what is going on they cling on to unconvincing past data and apportion blame to the individual’s “lifestyle choices” as an attempt at addressing prevention.
Rubbish. Rubbish. Rubbish.
It is about time the millions of us dealing with this disease - and raising money for BC charities - got mad about its continued misrepresentation in the media and the shabby handling of it via the PR departments of the charities who are supposed to be on our side.
But actually they don’t say poor diet and lack of exercise CAUSES cancer, they say it is a RISK factor and that is a factor in only 42% of cases.
I agree they have no real idea of the cause of bc, and the millions spent of research has shown anywhere the kind of return that they would have hoped for. However to deny that lifestyle choices have any effect on increasing risk is not helpful either.
Also, the news is merely a form of entertainment. Most people un-effected (and many who are), have no interest in know the exact in-and-outs of cancer, they want a broad over-view. Bit sized info that generalises over the facts - then, if they are interested they can delve more deeply.
If more people took greater responsibility for their own health then there would be much less illness and more money for the NHS to spend on caring for people who are unlucky enough to need treatment, rather than people who contribute to their illness through poor lifestyle choices.
No one of us should be beating ourselves up about how fit or unfit we were when we found out about our BC, it is just one factor that may have contributed in some way for some of us.
So be kind to yourself and if you can fit some extra exercise in, do so. But if you really can’t just accept that and do what you can manage without feeling any sense of blame. There are lots of extremely fit, healthy women who eat well and take care of themselves on this site, and they have BC too.
When I discovered my lump, I was actually at the fittest I had been for years, I was walking for 45mins - 1hr every day, going to the gym three times a week, only used my car for the 40 min journey to and from work, and walked with colleagues once or twice a week at lunchtime. I work on a military base and even though I am a civilian the fitness urge is catching. I felt great. A year later I am trying to regain that level of fitness having been able to manage only a minimal amount of walking.
My children are adults, I live close enough to walk to the gym and I live in the town centre so once I am home walking is easy for me. It is now easy for me to find time for myself. It isn’t so easy for lots of you with busy lives and small children. No one is blaming you for that (I hope!) so don’t blame yourselves.
Take care of yourselves,
Jacqui
Well said ms Molly, so true! I have gone over and over in my head, "was it my diet or lack of exercise or alcohol intake that caused my cancer, no it just happened and that’s it! All things in moderation. My diet is good, I don’t drink a lot and I walk every day so why did I get it? The answer is - I don’t know and neither did my surgeon or oncologist.
Why shouldn’t the general population be informed that:
"Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said that small changes in everyday habits can help to reduce cancer risk.
"Cutting back on alcohol by keeping within government recommended limits of no more than 14 units a week (a small drink a day) helps.
“Taking more exercise and eating a diet high in fibre but low in saturated fat can help maintain a healthy weight - which in turn reduces breast cancer risk.”"
No one is trying to blame anyone: diet and exercise are risk factors,not causes. As someone who has been through bc, I know that I want to not only do everything I can to reduce risk or re-occurance, but also feel good, be well and enjoy every day that I have!
Diet, exercise, alcohol probably all do have some impact on BC. However showing a woman chopping up an apple on BBC breakfast tv does not! The figures are scary but pretending to women that a simple change in lifestyle will protect them is disingenuous.
Besides which I think that’s there something wrong with the way we tackle health promotion in this country. Look at obesity and teenage pregnancy as examples of things that have been targeted without much success.
I would have liked to have heard about the use of HRT, contraceptive pill, living longer etc from Cancer Research. Also from what I understand, in pre-menopausal women there is no link with increased risk and obesity. I’m all for health promotion but finding ways that actually work!
Why not have a young, fit women with BC speaking like the many we see here at the BCC forums. This 1 in 8 chance of BC is a huge problem for society, its no good thinking that eating an apple will make it go away.
Elinda x
Ok, a woman cutting up an apple on breakfast tv is a little trite! (Although new stats out today say that British women are the fattest in Western Europe).
Very good point about HRT and contraceptive pill, interesting that it is not mentioned. (I attribute some cause of my bc to going on the pill as a teenager). Maybe they are too scared that the country will be over-run with even more pregnant teens and crazy menopausal women!
Still this drip, drip of information that lifestyle choices can make a difference to over-all risk must be helping at least a few people. Only 19% of bc cases are in women under 50 years, so still a vast majority of women who develop bc are post-menopausal, so obesity issue is still very relevant.
Hi,
There are obviously many more causes than are currently known about. I’ve always tried to lead a healthy lifestyle, not overweight, do lots of exercise, did all the ‘right’ things in terms of less likely to get BC, but I and many others have still developed it.
I’m 58 so fall into the age group likely to develop BC. I think more research needs to be done on why younger women are developing it.
Re exercise. You can make small changes to fit exercise into your life. To me this is about being fit and active. I used to teach full time and had children so know about time constraints - certainly no such thing as time in the lunch hour.
I always encouraged my children to walk or cycle everywhere. They are adults now but still walk as much as possible where others would take the car. I have to practically fight friends not to give me a lift home when I’ve walked to their home. I chose to walk, it doesn’t take much longer and I don’t have to think about making time for exercise. I dance twice a week too ( not at the moment) - that really keeps you fit.
Don’t get me wrong Gretchen, I think lifestyle is important. What I don’t like is the way it can lead to a kind of ill-informed smugness and a blame culture. Areas of high deprivation have higher levels of obesity and all sorts of problems. With obesity levels rising then the current health promotion just isn’t working.
I’ve just had a confusing booklet from my GP practice. In in top tips for health and well being it says: ‘Enjoy alcohol, it is good for you but not in excess’. Later in the same booklet on a section on alcohol it says ‘some studies associate moderate alcohol intake, one unit per day, with less risk of heart disease’. And goes on to say all the problems that alcohol can create including depression. and that there are other ways to protect your heart.
I think we could all drive ourselves mad with statistics, but I don’t see the point in trying to identify what caused my cancer. TBH, it doesn’t actually MATTER what caused it, I’ve got it and I have to deal with it. As for trying to reduce my chances of getting it again, well I’ve done most of those already (age at first baby, number of babies, length of breast-feeding, use of contraceptive pill, eating habits, exercise, ok so alcohol could probably be cut a bit) so I can only deal with what I’ve got. I REFUSE to feel guilty, and it makes me cross that RISK is so closely linked, in the minds of the ill-informed, with CAUSE, and so with BLAME.
The much more important statistic is the survival rate, and that’s getting better all the time. And with earlier detection it will keep getting better. I believe that is improving because of earlier detection, so the screening programme can undoubtedly take some credit for that, but we as a society (and we as individuals) need to keep up the message that catching it early improves chances of survival.
Ha ha!!! I’ve just spoken to Radio Surrey and they want me on the radio to talk about what I think to the announcement, any suggestions, ladies? (Listen in on bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_surrey at 10.45-ish and you can then slate me for not saying the right thing…)
I agree that a healthy lifestyle is obviously the best plan, the clue is in the ‘healthy’ bit.
However, I feel that they use the same line for every disease. Diabetes? - Need a healthy lifestyle. Heart Disease? - Need a healthy lifestyle. Cancer? - Need a healthy lifestyle. Absolutely a healthy lifestyle is a good thing but i can’t help but feel that it’s an easy line when there are obviously many more factors in play. Children or no children, HRT, The Pill - all have the ability to affect how our bodies work but these aren’t the headline makers.
As for alcohol - although we all agree too much is bad for you what is in debate is ‘too much’. Just looking at different country’s alcohol recommendations shows discrepancy: UK 1-2units a day. France - 3 Italy - 4. And then of course is the size of the units. Forgetting the difference between a large and small in the UK the EU has different standard measures. Even without this there is the whole person to look at, everyone processes things differently - just look at how the chemo is different in us all.
I am not, in any shape or form, suggesting we all sit and eat chips and glug bottles of wine but I am thinking that it’s the easy line to drip out when other factors may constitute more of a risk in triggering the gene that we were born with.
I agree with msmolly.
It’s a bit of a cop out and it’s the same old mantra being trotted out year after year.
I was always very active, I walked everywhere, miles, I was a very slim woman in my early 40’s when I was diagnosed, in 2003, with both bc and bone mets. I’ve never smoked, have never drank alcohol (sorry I sound incredibly boring but I just don’t like the taste) I had a good diet, had never taken the pill, had my family very young, breast fed for quite a while…in fact I ticked all the right boxes.
But there were related cancers in my family, not a big number at all but prostate, a distant relative with breast cancer, a paternal grandmother with ovarian cancer and only years after my diagnosis did my Mum die of ovarian cancer. (I have been tested for the BRCA genes and I don’t carry them.)
Don’t beat yourselves up if you are not spending your lunch hour running, whilst eating your healthy lunch or walking up stairs drinking some green tea…etc etc…
Take Care All.
Wow, so many women carry around a burden of guilt. I don’t read article like the one in this thread as blame and guilt-making, but about general (ok, over generalised!), information on some basic life-style choices.
Rising obesity levels? That will never change in a country where a bag of crisps is cheaper than an apple.
The survival stats are worse than I thought. Only a 66% chance of still being here in 20 years?!!, and I had a very aggressive tumour so probably even less than that. I’m doing everything I can to stick around (proven and unproven), and more importantly being well enough to enjoy every day that I do have.
Will try and listen CM to your radio interview - I am sure you will be brilliant!
but I just don’t like the taste) I had a good diet, had never taken the pill, had my family very young, breast fed for quite a while…in fact I ticked all the right boxes.