The secret to cutting your breast cancer risk by 15%

The list of celebs who’ve undergone mastectomies just keeps growing. Earlier this year, Angeline Jolie joined the list when she took prevention into her own hands and opted to get her breasts removed to lower her breast cancer risk.

She joins the likes of Christina Applegate, Sharon Osborne, Kylie Minogue and now Anastacia who’ve all gone public with their breast cancer stories.

Considering that one in eight women will suffer from breast cancer in her lifetime, it’s great to see so many well-known faces tell their stories. It’s even better to know that a new study shows that substantially reducing your breast cancer risk may be as easy as going for a walk.

Walking: The newest weapon in your breast cancer prevention plan

Scientists at the American Cancer Society have revealed that “women who walk for an hour a day can cut their risk of breast cancer in later life,” reports the Daily Mail.

How significantly?

Well, it appears that just one hour of walking (or other moderate exercise) a day lead to a 15% lower risk compared to women who are less active reveals.

That’s great news for women – especially those over 50 who are most at risk.

But why?

Here’s why walking can reduce your breast cancer risk

There are many factors – including ones you can’t control like genetics – responsible for higher breast cancer risk.

And that’s why internist Anne McTiernan, a researcher with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, is so excited by this latest research.

As she told USA Today, around “25% of all breast cancer cases in women of all ages could be avoided by maintaining a healthy body weight and doing regular physical activity.” So any research that backs this up and encourages women to get active is great news.

So there you have it! If you’re high risk for breast cancer and want to know what you can do to keep your risk down, take a walk! It could save your life.