Housework could reduce the risk of breast cancer by 13%It may sound counter intuitive but housework could be good for your health.
Yes it does and no it isn't.
Researchers found women who spent six hours a day doing household chores, going for a brisk walk or gardening were 13 per cent less likely to develop breast cancer than their sedentary peers.
Even those who managed just two-and-a-half hours of activity reduced their cancer risk by eight per cent.
As mentioned in an earlier post, 13% and 8% reductions in risk are nothing to get too excited about and they very likely are not real, but let's have a stab at this one. I haven't read the study, but we do know that having children reduces breast cancer risk and that the more children a woman has, the lower her risk:
Childbearing reduces the risk of breast cancer and the higher the number of full-term pregnancies, the greater the protection.
Risk of breast cancer reduces by 7% with each full-term pregnancy, and overall women who have had children have a 30% lower risk than nulliparous [childless] women.
A 15% risk reduction has been shown for womenwith a twin birth, compared to women giving birth to a singleton.
The only women who could possibly need to do six hours of housework a day are those who have at least one child running about the place so I'm guessing that the researchers have failed to adequately control for childbirth.
Mind you, that's only speculation. So ladies, why take the risk? Pop the kettle on while you're about it, will you? Chop, chop.
