Study suggests women begin healthy lifestyle early in life, maintain it

WASHINGTON Women who maintain a healthy weight, and who have lower perceived stress, may be less likely to have chromosome changes associated with aging than obese and stressed women, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday, citing a pilot study that was part of the Sister Study.

The long-term Sister Study is looking at the environmental and genetic characteristics of women whose sister had breast cancer to identify factors associated with developing breast cancer. This early pilot used baseline questionnaires and samples provided by participants when they joined the Sister Study.

"Together, these two studies reinforce the need to start a healthy lifestyle early and maintain it," stated Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of NIH.

The researchers who published these papers are from the NIEHS, which sponsors the Sister Study.

The papers are the first findings coming out of the Sister Study. The Sister Study is just completing its enrollment of 50,000 women aged 35-74 to prospectively study risk factors for breast cancer.

"We anticipate a wealth of information to come out of the Sister Study," stated Dale Sandler, chief of the Epidemiology Branch at NIEHS and principal investigator of the Sister Study. "Not only do we hope to find out more about the environmental and genetic factors that might lead to breast cancer, we also want to learn more about how factors such as stress, diet and exercise might impact cancer and other disease risks."