Don’t worry, be happy may be the new medical advice for those wishing to lower their risk of breast cancer.

Findings in a study from online BioMed Central journal BMC Cancer indicate that “young women who are exposed to severe life events more than once…are at risk for breast cancer and should be treated accordingly.”

Having just one significant life event, such as loss of a parent/spouse, divorce and economic crisis, was not enough to increase the likelihood of cancer – however, experiencing more than one severe life trauma increased the risk by 62 percent.

The study also correlated the level of happiness of the patient compared to the risk of cancer, while neither conclusive nor surprising, the study showed that ‘the more optimistic the person, the lower the probability of cancer.’

While several non-modifiable risk factors, such as age, family history and gender play a role in level of risk for breast cancer – taking control of the things you can change is vital to reducing your risk.

While aging remains the largest risk for breast cancer, fighting and preventing breast cancer is a lifetime of work. This preventative medicine practice should start in your 20s and 30s.

Other modifiable, but high risk factors include but are not limited to consuming more than one alcoholic beverage per day, pregnancy late in life or not at all, not breastfeeding, a high saturated-fat diet and lack of physical activity.

Any changes to your health regiment should be holistic in approach and under the guidelines of a physician.