SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

The study of nearly 65,000 women, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that those who were physically active had a 23 percent lower risk of breast cancer before menopause. High levels of physical activity from ages 12 to 22 contributed most strongly to the lower breast cancer risk.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University in Boston said that one-quarter of all breast cancers are diagnosed in women before menopause.

"We don't have a lot of prevention strategies for premenopausal breast cancer, but our findings clearly show that physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood can pay off in the long run", lead investigator Dr. Graham Colditz of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said in a statement.

The researchers found the age-adjusted incidence rates for invasive breast cancer dropped from 194 cases per 100,000 person-years in the least active women to 136 cases in the most active. The most active women reported the equivalent of running 3.25 hours a week or walking 13 hours a week.

 BREAKING STORIES

Weight Watchers compared to going to gym

Water levels begin to fall on Mississippi

Missouri May Seek Death Penalty Against Sheley

Missouri Likely to Seek Death for Sheley

Mississippi River recedes; storms on way

Submerged trees reduce global warming

Chrysler turns toward smaller cars

New evidence found in 1988 K.C. blast case

Obama praises McCain, warns critics

Mississippi River cresting, receding

Virtual farmer gets a flooded reality

Missouri copes with river, flash flooding

Levee breaks near Winfield, Mo.

Historian: Mormon land grabbed in Missouri

Sodden levee breaches, prompts evacuations

More rain forecast for rain-weary Midwest

Waterlogged Midwest prepares for more rain

Levees break up river from St. Louis

Some cancer drugs bad for heart patients

Animal vertebrae development studied