That's Fit

Gaining weight at any age and stage of life boosts a woman's risk of developing breast cancer after menopause, says research from the National Cancer Institute. This may come as a surprise to some who think lifestyle plays no role in the development of cancer. But as many as 20% of cancer deaths are due to being overweight or obese. Clearly, weight does matter. If you're tipping the scales in a dangerous direction, then, you'd be wise to drop a few pounds in the name of cancer prevention.

Other lifestyle factors that deserve your attention are as follows.

Hormone Replacement Therapy. It slightly increases a woman's breast cancer risk, according to the large Women's Health Initiative. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends the smallest effective HRT dose for the shortest period of time.

Exercise. Women who exercise more than six hours a week cut their risk of invasive breast cancer by 23 percent. It's never to late to start. So lace up your athletic shoes today.

Alcohol. Even small amounts of alcohol spike breast cancer risk. Taking folic acid in addition to consuming alcohol helps, but cutting down on drinking is your best bet. An equivalent of one glass of wine per day is all you should drink. Less is better, if you can manage it.

Vitamin D. A supplement with at least 1,000 IU of the vitamin is recommended.

Five easy steps -- lose weight (OK, maybe this one's not so easy), limit HRT, exercise, cut down on drinking, and supplement with vitamin D -- and you'll be on your way to good breast health.

Earlier this month Jacki told you that Christina Applegate, star of Samantha Who?, had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and now I have some great news to share -- the actress has announced that she is completely free of cancer, thanks to the early detection and the proper treatment.

Applegate, 36, has been getting annual mammograms since she turned 30 -- her mother is a breast cancer survivor, so she was aware of her risk. In an interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts (also a breast cancer survivor), she recalled her reaction to finding out she had breast cancer: "I was so mad and I -- I just remember I was -- I was just shaking. And then also immediately, I had to go into ... 'take-care-of-business mode,' ... I asked them, 'What do I do now? What -- what is it that I do? I get a doctor, I get a surgeon, I gen an oncologist? What do I do?"

What Applegate did was get all the help she needed, and she switched to a macrobiotic diet. And, obviously, it worked -- she's clear and told the world, "I'm clear. Absolutely 100 percent clear and clean. It did not spread. They got everything out, so I'm definitely not going to die from breast cancer."

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is lending her famous name and face to a good cause -- breast cancer research. The star is joining with Saks Fifth Avenue's and the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Key to the Cure. Key to the Cure raises money for research and brings awareness to the issue of women and breast cancer.

Paltrow will appear in the ad campaign in a t-shirt designed by Karl Lagerfield, which will debut at Saks Fifth Avenue on October 1st. The shirt retails for $40 and nearly all of that will go to Key for the Cure. During the week of October 16-19, customers who shop at Saks or saks.com will see 2% of their purchase go to the organization as well.

So if you find yourself in need of a new t-shirt, or just need some new back-to-school clothes of your own, when you buy from Saks in October, you'll also be lending a helping hand to breast cancer research. Win-win!

Have you ever visited your parents house and stumbled upon a veritable time capsule in the attic? Old photos, mix tapes you made for your high school crush, and even old clothes -- items that you had all but forgotten about now stare you in the face, just begging to be taken with you on your instant trip down memory lane.

What do you do? Of course, you pop the mix tape into the old boom box you also found and press play; you sift through all the old photos, including the entire set from your junior prom; and you eventually get the nerve to try on what were once your favorite pair of jeans. And that's when this whole situation turns from nostalgic to depressing ... and, based on a recent American Cancer Society Study, somewhat unnerving.

According to researchers, women who gained 21 to 30 pounds after the age of 18 were 40 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who only gained five pounds or less. What's more, the study also revealed that women who gained 70 pounds or more doubled their risk of breast cancer. So, if your high school jeans don't even come close to fitting anymore, you may want to consider starting a regular exercise program and following a healthier diet.

Cynthia Nixon, well-known for her role as Miranda on Sex and the City, has recently revealed that she's been battling breast cancer. Diagnosed over a year ago, Nixon understandably decided to keep her news private. "I didn't want paparazzi at the hospital while I was going through this," said Nixon. The 42-year-old actress even scheduled surgery at a time that wouldn't cause her to miss any performances of the play she was in.

Nixon has a family history of breast cancer as her mother also had the disease. Nixon admitted to feeling very scared but she also stated "I was very cognizant of if it's going to happen, this is the best way for it to happen, that it's found so early and we can just get right on it,"

Nixon underwent surgery and radiotherapy and has made a good recovery. She is now an ambassador for the Susan G. Komen foundation. Look for Cynthia Nixon in the upcoming Sex and the City movie soon. She offers this advice for women "Talk with your doctor, make healthy lifestyle choices and most importantly, know your body as that can make all the difference in the world."

How dark is your room at night? For me, not so much. I'm a little afraid to admit it but I might be, um, just the teensiest bit afraid of the dark ... hey, you, stop laughing! I'm serious. It goes back to my childhood when I watched the episode of Little House on the Prairie where Mary woke up and discovered she was blind. Ever since then, I need to have a little bit of light in my room when I sleep so that when I wake up, I can see something and prove to myself that, yet again, I woke up with my eyesight intact.

But as it turns out, you--and I--should be sleeping in total darkness most nights. It not only helps maintain a deep sleep but it can reduce our cancer risk too, according to Dr. Mercola. Why? It all comes down to your levels of Melatonin, which is affected by how much light you see. Melatonin, in turn, plays a role in Estrogen secretion, which plays a role in cancer, particularly breast cancer. In fact, totally blind women have a 36% less chance of developing cancer than those who aren't blind or who are visually impaired.

Dang. I guess this means I have to give up the nightlight.

I take a daily Centrum multivitamin. Chewable, because for some strange reason, I have trouble swallowing pills. But there's some new research out of Harvard that many people may find just as difficult to swallow.

According to an article in the March edition of the Harvard Men's Health Watch, people who take a multivitamin may be at a greater risk of developing prostate, breast, or colorectal cancers. Researchers posit that an overabundance of folic acid found in bread products, when combined with the amount found in a multivitamin, can leave people consuming an excess of 1,000 mcg or more of folic acid per day. This amount, say researchers, can increase cancer risk.

However, this report has received a great deal of backlash from the scientific community. The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), in response to the Harvard findings, released a statement saying that there was no reason to stop taking multivitamins.

Andrew Shao, CRN vice-president for regulatory and scientific affairs, said: "The issue raised on folic acid from a scientific standpoint is one that warrants follow-up, but it is not something isolated to multivitamins. He further stated that "The majority of Americans don't eat well... and multivitamins are an important component to the diet."

What do you guys think about these findings from Harvard? Personally, I think I need to see more conclusive evidence showing a link between multivitamins and cancer risk before I'm convinced, but that's just me. How about you?

Hormone replacement therapy has been a subject of controversy for a while now. A recent study adds to the issues with this menopause treatment. Reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study followed 16,000 women who were prescribed Prempro (an estrogen/progestin combo). The study found that after women stopped taking the hormone replacement pills all benefits wore off as expected. But the study also found that the women had a slightly increased risk of certain cancers.

Overall risk remains low, so the study results don't change hormone replacement therapy recommendations. Doctors currently prescribe the lowest effective dose for women who have uncomfortable symptoms such as moderate or severe hot flashes.

When facing a breast cancer diagnosis, it's natural for women to turn to the Internet to learn more about the disease as well as treatment options. A recent study found that most Internet sites found through popular search engines contain factual information, but up to 5% of those websites may contain misleading or inaccurate information.

The sites that are most likely to have mistakes, researchers found, are those that discuss complimentary or alternative treatments. There's really no way to tag or highlight those discrepancies. While interviewed doctors say that their female patients generally come in well-informed, not every patient is up front with their doctor about alternative treatments they might be pursuing.

This study is a good reminder that anyone can put information on the Internet, and that you can't believe everything you read.

New research released recently concluded that many doctors don't discuss all available options with breast cancer patients before actual surgery -- leaving many of them uninformed about breast or lump removal.

Is this a sign of incompetence or a sign of dollars from more surgeries? Either way, it's hard to fathom that some of the most highly educated professionals leaving out every conceivable detail when conveying information to each and every patient.

That's apparently what is happening in an increasing way with breast cancer patients, although the true reason why will probably never be known, much like decades of "research" that basically solve nothing.

According to this article from HealthDay, the interpretation of diagnostic (not screening) mammograms can vary, depending on the radiologist looking at them. To make sure that you get the most accurate interpretation of the results, health experts recommend that you:

• have your mammogram done at a location that has a breast-imaging specialist, or at least where the radiologist reads a significant number of mammograms a year.
• visit the same facility every time you have a mammogram, or at the very least bring your past films with you. Your radiologist needs to read the results on a continuum, or by looking at past images.
• have your mammogram done at a facility where there is more than one radiologist, so that, if necessary, consultation is possible.

Interestingly, experience doesn't seem to make a radiologist more accurate. Though experienced doctors were less likely to biopsy a false positive, they weren't as good as newer radiologists at picking up the cancer in the first place.

New cases of breast cancer could number 200,000 this year, and it's a disease that's on nearly every woman's mind. Research in genetic testing has yielded a few clues about the role of heredity in the disease, and there are now tests available that can tell you if you may be genetically at risk. But these aren't necessarily tests that are recommended to every woman, and if you do think you want to go through with them, CNN has some things to consider first.

For instance, test results can be ambiguous, especially if you don't have a family history of the disease. And to be tested for every gene that's been associated with breast cancer to date, you'd have to spend tens of thousands of dollars -- an impractical amount for most of the population.

So if testing your breasts is something you're considering to stem your fears about the disease, take a minute to read this article. Your doctor can also help you best understand your options.

As Jacki reported this morning, new research out this week suggested that thousands of breast cancer patients may be able to do away with heavy chemotherapy treatments or receive much less invasive chemo without damaging chances of beating the disease.

For those that have undergone the vagaries of chemotherapy, this is understandable. In 2007 (almost 2008), it still amazing that there are not many (if any) mainstream cancer treatment alternatives than pumping radiation into the body. Genetic research is producing some fine candidates, but chemo remains the top cancer treatment.

Still, a gene test can even determine if some breast cancer patients even need chemo at all, even if the cancer has spread. That's good news, since chemo should be used always when there is no other choice.

Think breast cancer can only strike women? Many men also have the gene for breast cancer as well, giving them a heightened risk for the condition of cancer (not necessarily breast cancer).

It's always a good idea to know the cancer history of your family, from great grandparents on up, both male and female. Knowing that you may have a family history of cancer may make some people take different lifestyle choices to avoid any unneeded risk, which is a good thing.

This is even a standard medical medical question asked on about any form you fill out at a doctor's office or hospital, but my guess is that most answers are somewhat flippant.

One of the most aggressive types of breast cancer may be caused by a single type of faulty gene, according to researchers.

"Basal-like breast cancer tumors" are the cancerous tumors under the proverbial microscope here, and the British researchers who published their findings reiterated that basal-type tumors grow fast and spread quickly.

In addition, conventional drugs have little affect in many of these cases. These would be the type of breast cancer tumors to find a consistent treatment to, if at all possible. Genetic research as it relates to fast-growing cancers is hopefully in its infancy -- meaning we can expect many more breakthroughs in the next decade.