Getting recommended amount of physical exercise linked to lower risk of 7 cancers

A new American analysis has found that hitting the recommended weekly levels of physical activity could lower the risk of developing seven different cancers.

Led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the new analysis looked at nine existing studies including a total of 755,459 participants to investigate whether meeting the recommended amounts of physical activity is linked to a lower risk of 15 different cancers.


Updated guidelines recommend that people should aim for 2.5 to 5 hours per week of moderate-intensity activity, or 7.5 to 15 METs (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) per week. MET measures an individual’s energy expenditure, with one MET defined as the energy it takes to sit quietly. Moderate-intensity activities burn three to six times as much energy per minute as sitting quietly (3 to 6 METs), and vigorous-intensity activities burn more than 6 METs.

After asking the participants to self-report their physical activity levels, the researchers then followed them for 10.1 years.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that engaging in recommended amounts of activity (7.5 to 15 MET hours per week) was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of seven of the 15 cancer types included in the study, compared to doing no physical activity. The team also found that the more exercise participants did, the more the risk was reduced.

Of these 15 cancers, physical activity was linked to a lower risk of colon cancer in men (8% lower risk for 7.5 MET hours per week and a 14% lower risk for 15 MET hours per week), a lower risk of breast cancer in women (6% to 10%), endometrial cancer (10% to 18%), kidney cancer (11% to 17%), myeloma (14% to 19%), liver cancer (18% to 27%), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in women (11% to 18% lower risk).

The researchers admitted that their analysis had some limitations. For example, though the total number of participants was large, the number of participants studied for certain cancers was limited. In addition, participants were mainly white, and participants self-reported their level of physical activity, a method that is prone to errors.

However, the authors still concluded that, “These findings provide direct quantitative support for the levels of activity recommended for cancer prevention and provide actionable evidence for ongoing and future cancer prevention efforts.”

“Physical activity guidelines have largely been based on their impact on chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes,” said study author Dr. Alpa Patel. “These data provide strong support that these recommended levels are important to cancer prevention, as well.” IB/JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Back to the gym time? 5 tips for getting motivated

When it’s back to school time for the kids, that means back to the gym time for some of us adults. However, after taking a break from our regular routine to relax on vacation, it might be hard to find the motivation needed to get back into a workout schedule. Here we round up five ways to get back into the swing of things and hopefully keep your fitness regime going all year long.

1. Find a friend

Finding a workout buddy is one way to keep going with your fitness schedule, as making plans to work out together will make it harder to cancel and make you both more accountable. Exercising with a friend or partner can also help you both stay motivated by congratulating each other on a workout well done and any goals reached. You could also make exercise more of a fun, social event by organizing to grab a post-workout brunch or smoothie together.

2. Update your workout wardrobe

The end of summer may mean back to work and back to real life, but it also means the start of the new season sportswear collections. Adidas, Monreal London and Bodyism are just some of the brands who have already unveiled their new fall collections, so if you’re struggling to get back to the gym, buying some new sportswear to show off might help. Alternatively, make a new purchase a well-deserved treat for hitting your exercise goals. It will help give you something to work towards.

3. Try a new class

Why not learn something new yourself and sign up for a new class? Not only will a new sport or workout give your fitness regime a shake up, but it could also teach you some new skills and help you make some new friends. If you’re always running, why not try a Body Pump class for some resistance training? Already love resistance training? Stretch it out with some yoga. If you always swim breast stroke, book in with an instructor to teach you front crawl. The possibilities are endless.

4. Set a new goal
If you’ve taken a break from the gym while on vacation, you might be feeling back to square one. Setting a new goal now that you’re back is one way to get yourself more motivated to start again, and to push yourself further. Try signing up for a run or sponsored swim, set yourself a new amount of steps to walk each week, or increase your workouts from three per week to four. It doesn’t have to be too far or too much to start with, just something that is a challenge but also fun for you. Once you’ve achieved this goal, you can push yourself even further with another.

5. Keep track of your progress

Even if you’re not working towards a goal, keeping a track of your workouts will show you how far you have progressed and help keep you going. Invest in a fitness tracker as part of your back to the gym kit, a bit like updating your stationery for school, and make sure you’re wearing it daily to track all your activity as well as other important factors such as sleep. Alternatively schedule workouts into your diary to keep a track of how many you make it to and what you achieved. JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

‘Exercise prescriptions’ important for type 2 diabetes

Patients with type 2 diabetes should be given exercise “prescriptions” that specify the type, duration, intensity and frequency of workouts, adapted to the individual, according to a new review.

Although exercise improves blood sugar control, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, most people with diabetes do not engage in regular exercise, the authors write.

“Exercise and physical activity can help to control type 2 diabetes,” said lead author Dr. Romeu Mendes of the Public Health Unit, ACES Douro I—Marao e Douro Norte in Vila Real, Portugal.

“There are many successful case-studies of patients who reversed metabolic dysfunction only with lifestyle strategies (exercise plus diet),” but the benefits disappear when healthy diet and regular exercise stop, he said.

“Diabetes is a chronic disease and must be managed for life,” Mendes said. “Regular exercise and a healthy nutritional pattern are the basis of the treatment.”

The researchers reviewed published recommendations or guidelines for exercise prescriptions for people with type 2 diabetes issued by international scientific organizations in the field of diabetology, endocrinology, cardiology, public health and sports medicine.

They included 11 publications from institutions like the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, American Diabetes Association, Francophone Diabetes Society and Swedish National Institute of Health.

“We were not aware that there were so many scientific organizations issuing specific recommendations for exercise prescription in this population,” Mendes told Reuters Health by email.

The guidelines agreed that people with type 2 diabetes should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise per week, spread over at least three days of the week, and also recommend resistance exercise at least twice weekly.

Aerobic exercise can include brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming or other activities, and resistance exercise should target large muscle groups with machines or free weights. Some institutions also recommend some flexibility training, Mendes and colleagues reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“The ultimate and most important variable for people is quality of life,” Mendes said, noting that exercise particularly improves health-related quality of life.

Exercise has indisputable life-saving benefits, but there is limited research on the benefits of exercise among people with diabetes, said Huseyin Naci, a health policy researcher at the London School of Economics who was not part of the new review.

“According to our previous research, there is a bias against testing exercise,” Naci told Reuters Health by email. “Medical research increasingly favors drug interventions over strategies to modify lifestyle.”

“The vast majority of patients with type 2 diabetes do not engage in regular exercise,” Mendes said. “This may be explained by insufficient awareness about the potential benefits of exercise and the lack of specific knowledge about current recommendations.”

Advising patients to increase their exercise levels is not enough, he said. Prescriptions should include specific information on the type, mode, duration, intensity and weekly frequency, and the exercise strategies must be adapted for each individual, based on other health conditions, contraindications and realistic personal goals.

“According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly one third of doctors prescribe exercise in primary care,” Naci said. “This is promising, but more doctors should discuss and give brief advice to their patients about the benefits of exercise and refer patients with diabetes to structured exercise programs.” — Reuters