One year, they are diagnosed in Spain over 34,000 new cases of breast cancer and over 80% are diagnosed in the menopause. But this is not a reason to suffer from it. Conversely, age is a risk factor for breast cancer or breast cancer, as it is for all adult cancers. That is, the older you are, the greater the risk.
Therefore, it is important to clarify that “the menopause it is not the cause of breast cancer, “he tells laSexta.com Dr. Emilia Gómez Pardo, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology e scientific advisor on nutrition and prevention of the Fundación CRIS against cancer.
In fact – adds the expert – there are scientific studies that claim that “a early or early menopause It is a protective factor against breast cancer, so we must clarify that this (menopause) is not a cause.
The reason some people think this is because it can confuse the fact that “breast cancer has a hormonal stage associated with a name which is menopause and over 80% of cases are postmenopausal breast cancers (i.e. they occur in menopause). but not because this is the cause “, she insists, but because” it is in that period of life, between 45 and 65 years, that two events that can cause breast cancer occur “.
In other words, as the doctor herself writes in this article published in Cris against cancer, it is in this phase that “several factors converge that increase the risk of getting breast cancer”. Age on the one hand (the older you are, the higher your risk of breast cancer) and on the other hand you gain weight or become overweight.
As for the second risk factor, weight gain or being overweight (which is a risk factor for developing breast cancer), it is important to explain that normally in menopause – perhaps a little earlier – you usually get fat because you lose muscle mass, which is the tissue that consumes the most calories.
“And when you lower your hormones, you lose more muscle mass. So, if you eat and consume as before in menopause, you’ll burn less, which will turn those calories into fat and gain weight,” he explains.
How to prevent breast cancer risk factors
That’s why experts recommend maintaining a healthy weight throughout all stages of life. All the more so in menopause, because it is important to reach it with a stable weight and to take measures to avoid gaining weight. And if necessary, try to lose weighttry to lose weight.
“Science has shown that when a person enters adulthood with a healthy weight and maintains it, this is a protective factor against all cancers, but against breast cancer it is a very, very protective factor,” says Gómez Pardo. .
Having a healthy weight is worked mostly by food (eating a healthy diet) and exercise or physical activity. Both factors are essential. “If you enter menopause with a healthy weight, we must monitor it (so as not to gain weight) and vigilance implies having knowledge, which is why we must know that in menopause we must change some habits: we must exercise, above all strength exercise to compensate for this loss of muscle mass, and wear (or start wearing, if not already done) a healthy eating“.
But it is also important to avoid toxins such as tobacco and especially alcohol. “Prevention must be worked on from an early age, but it is also important to give the message that it is never too late to start. Because we need to know that 30% of breast cancers could be avoided with an adequate lifestyle “says the doctor.
Therefore, it is important to prevent modifiable risk factors breast cancer:
- Alcohol
- Overweight
- Sedentary lifestyle or lack of exercise
- Bad nutrition
- Tobacco
“When it comes to breast cancer, the alcohol It is the factor that has the greatest impact, along with being overweight. However, it is still difficult for us to understand that it is a toxic compound, which is also mutagenic (causing mutations in the genome), “says the doctor. It is also important to know that”there is no safe consumption and that the more alcohol, the greater the risk of breast cancer, “he concludes.
