As soon as you start exercising, you can reduce your risk of breast cancer to some degree, and it’s never too late! This information comes from a prospective cohort study in France that included 59,000 postmenopausal female subjects. The researchers found that women who exercised at a moderate intensity – walking at least 4 hours per week on average – had a 10% lower risk of invasive breast cancer compared to those who did not exercise much, with an HR of 0.90. Even more significantly, the reduction in risk was only seen in the “near future” (the last 4 years). ” (within the last 4 years) postmenopausal women who stayed active. However, for women who reached this level of exercise 5 to 9 years ago, but have since slackened off, there was no reduction in breast cancer risk, suggesting that only recent and sustained exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer. For women who had not yet exercised, the benefits of immediate exercise were similar, even if they had never exercised before. Doctors can even tell patients that no equipment is needed to exercise. All that is needed is to walk for at least 30 minutes a day, for example by getting off the bus one stop earlier or not driving when going shopping. In the study, there was no significant “dose-response association”, i.e., an increase in exercise did not reduce the risk of breast cancer. The results of the study suggest that moderate levels of physical activity can lead to a reduction in risk, and the study sheds light on some of the unknowns in the previous literature on breast cancer and exercise. Senior researcher Mesrine and colleagues put their findings into practice. They note that “most of the members of the team exercised regularly, as I do, at least at the minimum intensity recommended by the WHO. Some members chose to cycle to work, others chose to walk to work, and most of them did other exercises”. Recently, there has been a gradual increase in the development of exercise programs in France. In the last ten years, great strides have been made in encouraging the nation to exercise. For example, bicycles can be rented in most cities at a very low cost and can be returned anywhere.