More and more studies are accumulating in favor of practice of physical exercise as a way to be healthy and prevent various diseases. Now, important new research that followed more than 1 million young men in Sweden during a average of 33 years, provided important conclusions on the exercise-cancer relationship.
The study, published yesterday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that men with high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness in early adulthood had a lower risk of developing up to 9 forms of cancer in the future in lungs, kidneys and the gastrointestinal system, among other organs.
The research took as its starting point the physical tests carried out on more than a million young Swedes 18 years old during military service tests, which included pedaling a stationary bicycle with increasing levels of resistance. The results of this analysis were used to classify participants into different levels of cardiorespiratory fitness.
The test consisted of ride a bicycle stationary, first with a low resistance level for five minutes, then with an increase in resistance of 25 watts per minute until the participants were too tired to continue.
The authors of the new study classified the participants into low, moderate and high levels cardiorespiratory fitness, a measure of how well a person’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems supply oxygen to the muscles, based on the results of their bike tests.
They found that people with high levels of physical fitness had 19% lower risk of head and neck cancer and 20% lower risk of kidney cancer compared to the low fitness group.
Meanwhile, lung cancer risk was 42% lower for the fittest participants, although that was mainly explained by people’s smoking habits. Despite its findings, the study has limitations, such as not including women and not assessing participants’ lifestyles after initial testing.
The doctor Aron Onerup, lead author of the study and member of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, stressed that it is not necessary to be an elite athlete to obtain these benefits. “Simply improving physical fitness can reduce the risk of several cancers,” said Onerup, who also pointed out a surprising discovery: those with high physical fitness had a nearly 40% lower risk of developing gastrointestinal cancers.
consulted by Infobaethe doctor Diego Kaen (MP 1898), president of the Argentine Association of Oncology (AAOC), remarked the importance of practicing physical exercise with respect to cancer and other diseases.
“Physical condition and exercise greatly influence health, not only in cancer, but also, for example, in cardiovascular pathology. Now, one has to understand that if one manages not to smoke, not drink alcohol, consume a healthier diet based on fiber and vegetables, and manage to exercise at least 3 to 4 times a week for 60 minutes of aerobic activity, can reduce the probability of having cancer by up to 40%“said the expert.
“There is no maneuver that reduces a person’s probability of having cancer as much as a change in lifestyle. As for the exercise There are many studies that demonstrate two things, first that exercising physiologically reduces the inflammatory process of the body and the risk of having cancer. It has even been studied that performing regular aerobic activity reduces the probability that a person who had cancer will suffer from it again. This It is fully studied in breast cancer and colon cancer for example,” said Kaen, who is director of the clinical research department at the Riojano Cancer Center..
Regarding why exercise should be incorporated as a lifestyle habit, the professor at the National University of La Rioja indicated that exercise is part of changing lifestyle habits. “Exercise is healthy in terms of reducing stress, implying lower the inflammatory state of the body. It means assimilating food better, reducing, for example, enzymes such as insulin. In other words, there are a lot of medical factors that generate a healthy life. And let us remember that a healthy life is part of the prevention of many cardiovascular, bone, rheumatological and even cancer diseases,” concluded the specialist.
Meanwhile, the doctor Ramiro Heredia clinical doctor of the Department of Internal Medicine of the José de San Martín Clinical Hospital specified to Infobae that practicing physical activity on a regular basis has beneficial effects on health. “It is proven protective effect that practicing regular exercise has against cardiovascular disease that is, the risk of having a myocardial infarction, a cerebrovascular accident, or sudden cardiac death. It also helps prevent or control different risk factors for diseases associated with cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and overweight.”
“Regarding cancer, there is scientific evidence that tells us that People who practice physical activity on a regular basis have a lower risk of generating several types of cancer. and if they get sick they have a better prognosis. We know today that being in good physical condition and practicing regular physical activity reduces the incidence of different types of cancer. A work published a few years ago observed a reduction in lung cancer of 47%, colorectal cancer of 26%, and cancer in general of 14%. That is why in the daily medical consultation and through different biomedical institutions and health authorities, practicing physical activity on a regular basis has to be within the recommendations,” Heredia pointed out.
“Without going any further, last year the American Heart Association published the list of the eight essentials of life in which physical activity is one of them, along with sleeping adequately, controlling cholesterol, controlling glucose, controlling high blood pressure, having a normal body weight, having a balanced diet, not smoking, among others,” concluded the specialist from the Hospital de Clínicas.
A recent study published in the journal JAMA Oncologycarried out by the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney, Australia, has revealed that Just 5 minutes a day of vigorous physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of cancer. This activity refers to short, vigorous exercises, such as walking quickly, climbing stairs, or running to catch public transportation.
The researchers analyzed the physical activity of more than 22,000 adults over a 7-year period and found that those who performed between 3 and 6 minutes of intense physical activity daily had 17-18% lower cancer rates. Furthermore, those who averaged 4.5 minutes a day of this activity were up to 32% less likely to develop oncological diseases.
In a comprehensive scientific review conducted in 2016 and published in JAMA Internal Medicineresearchers found that the likelihood of developing 13 common types of cancer, including breast, stomach, bladder, colon, and blood cancers, was significantly reduced in men and women who exercised regularly.
A most recent studycarried out in 2022, concluded that approximately 46,356 annual cases of cancer in the United States, which represents around 3% of all cases, could be prevented if everyone who currently does not exercise started doing so.
However, it is important to note that most of this research focused on individuals who exercised for at least 30 minutes almost every day. This amount of time is the minimum recommended by the WHO, raising the question of whether shorter periods of physical activity could also have a significant impact on reducing cancer risk.
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