Women who exercise face less risk of osteoporosis and breast cancer

REGULAR exercise and physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of both breast cancer and osteoporosis the keynote speaker told a ‘women in sport’ conference yesterday.

From her research with DCU, Dr Catherine Woods said females who took up physical activity at a younger age were at far less risk of osteoporosis, a condition affecting one in four Irish women.

“From a study into two groups of women, one who did regular exercise over a year, the other which didn’t, found there was a much higher rate of bone mass density among the girls who exercised,” said Dr Woods.