5 Simple Ways You Can Cut Your Breast Cancer

Breast cancer isn't preventable, but there are small steps you can take to reduce your risk. Start working these habits into your life. Around one in eight women will develop breast ­cancer at some point in their lifetime.

But there is no single cause, explains Lester Barr, breast cancer surgeon and chairman of Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention “Breast cancer is caused by the interplay of your genes, the environment you live in and lifestyle factors,” Lester says.

A World Cancer Research Fund report claims as many as 20,000 British women could avoid breast cancer each year if they led a healthier lifestyle.

Here’s our guide on what steps you can take to help lower your risk.

1. Drink less booze

“Regularly drinking ­alcohol increases your risk of developing breast cancer and the more drinks you have each day, the greater your risk will be,” says Eluned.

Try simple measures to reduce how much you drink, such as having one glass instead of two, having alcohol-free nights and drinking from smaller wine glasses to reduce your units without you noticing.

2. Exercise at least three times a week (more often is even better)

When you do exercise, work to keep your heart rate above its baseline level for a minimum of 20 continuous minutes. Long walks are nice too, but it's the more vigorous exercise (expect to sweat!) that really helps your heart and cuts your cancer risk. Try this 40-minute walking workout.

3. Maintain your body weight, or lose weight if you're overweight

Research shows that being overweight or obese (especially if you're past menopause) increases your risk, especially if you put on the weight as an adult. And a study released in March 2008 by researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston showed that obese and overweight women also had lower breast cancer survival rates and a greater chance of more aggressive disease than average-weight or underweight women.

4. Do a monthly breast self-exam

Self-exams are no longer officially recommended—but do them anyway.  Be sure to get a breast exam from your doctor and have your technique reviewed regularly. You might catch a lump before a mammogram does, and it's a good idea to follow the changes in your body.

5. The radiation you get from a mammogram is minimal.

Catching a tumor early boosts the chance of survival significantly.The five-year survival rate can be as high as 98 percent for the earliest-stage localized disease, but hovers around 27 percent for the distant-stage, or metastatic, disease.