Question:
Experts have long known that physical exercise can reduce the risk of
breast cancer, probably through hormonal and metabolic changes.
But it has been less clear how much and what types of exercise are
necessary for this risk reduction.
And much of past work has examined the link between exercise and
breast cancer in post-menopausal women only.
The latest study looked at both pre- and post-menopausal women and a
range of activities, including work, leisure and housework.
Answer:
Last night, I saw a TV show on the Franklin expedition to
find a Northwest Passage above Northern Canada in 1845,
which was one of the many attempts before the Panama
Canal was built to find a Westward route from Europe to
the Orient without sailing all the way around Cape Horn at
the bottom of South America, having to pass through the
doldrums twice in the process. The two-ship expedition was
better equipped than any expedition had ever been before,
since canning had been invented so that the crew "could
eat as well as they did in England", and there were enough
provisions to survive being locked in ice for three years.
However, everybody died. Ice cores reveal that they had
the misfortune to have set sail just before a particularly cold
period when the sea ice around the Northern Canadian
coast did not melt for as much as five years. The bodies
of men buried from the expedition showed lead
concentrations ten times the normal amount, due to the
lead solder seal on the canned goods. That would be bad
all by itself, but it was compounded by scurvy. There was
canned lemon juice, but it had not been realized that the
vitamin C lost its potency if canned for over a year.
Very heartening news. See also the companion study, "Men who
exercise by doing the yard work can reduce their risk of remote-
control-connected carpal tunnel syndrome".
No, no, no! Yardwork, or any work at all around the house,
is very bad for men, because it dulls the hunting instinct!
After WWIII, when you have food on the table because your
husband was able to kill off the neighbors and steal their
babies for you to cook up while everyone else is starving,
you'll thank your lucky stars you never feminized your
husband by making him work around the house. Watching
football games on TV while drinking beer is the way to keep
those hunting instincts sharp.
