Muscle Mass Increases Breast Cancer Survival Rates

I was scanning through some news articles when I found something that caught my eye. It was an article that spoke about how muscle mass increases breast cancer survival rates. Intrigued as I was, I clicked on the article to see what the research was showing. The article mentioned how individuals who had breast cancer along with sarcopenia (lack of muscle mass or the loss of muscle mass due to aging) had a higher mortality rate than individuals with breast cancer who had a higher amount of muscle mass on their frame. This raised the question as to how muscle mass increases breast cancer survival rates?

Sarcopenia has been found to be more prevalent with individuals after the age of 30. The research states that after the age of 30, people tend to lose anywhere from 3-5% of their muscle mass every 10 years. For those who don’t know the benefits of resistance training, lifting weights can help maintain and build your lean muscle mass to help prevent the negative effects associated with the loss of muscle mass. Additionally, consuming enough protein in your diet can also help prevent the loss of muscle. The RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for protein is said to be 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, but I like to see people between 0.5-1.0 grams per day depending on your health and fitness goals.

Muscle Mass Increases Breast Cancer Survival Rates — STUDY

For this study, 3,241 women were used who had been diagnosed with stage II or stage III breast cancer between January 2000 and December 2013. Researchers tested the women’s body fat along with their lean muscle mass prior to starting the study. Of the 3,241 women, 34% were found to have sarcopenia (1,102 of the women).

What the researchers found over the timeframe of this study was that muscle mass and body fat played a huge factor in survival rates. Women with breast cancer who had a high body fat along with lower muscle mass had a much higher risk of death (89% to be exact). In the end, it was determined that muscle mass increases breast cancer survival rates!

While the findings of this study are amazing, I don’t want to publish this without saying that the above is not a 100% sure thing. There are always outliers and I like to err on the side of nothing is a certainty. Researchers are noting and encouraged that with more research they might be able to say with certainty that muscle mass increases breast cancer survival rates. But until that point, combining a sound nutrition plan along with a resistance training program can help not only increase lean muscle mass, but also help reduce the overall body fat levels that an individual carries around on a daily basis. You should be exercising and eating a healthy diet regardless if you have cancer or not.

Source: MSN.com

If you are interested in learning more about how exercise helps those who have or are at risk of cancer, below are some other pieces I have written on the subject if you cared to read:

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Muscle Mass Increases Breast Cancer Survival Rates — STUDY

Matt Weik