Exercise helps colon cancer survivors live as long as people who never had cancer : NPR

Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths around the world, and is increasing among young adults in the US A study recently published in the journal Cancer; Regular exercise discovers that survivors can help them live longer.

“The important message is that some degree of activity is better than inactive,” he says. Dr. Jeff Meyerhart, Co-director and senior research author of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Colon and Rectal Cancer Center. He says the results suggest that exercise can have a “meaning effect” on the long-term prognosis of patients.

When it comes to colon cancer, the good news is that overall, mortality is lowered due to improved screening and treatment. However, survivors still tend to have shorter life expectancy than people of the same age or gender in the general population, mostly because they are at risk of cancer returning.

Researchers have long known that exercise can improve survival rates in colon cancer patients. However, he and his colleagues wanted to know whether normal physical activity could actually help patients improve survival compared to people who have never had cancer.

Therefore, they surveyed nearly 3,000 colon cancer patients for exercise habits before and after treatment. What they found was that regular exercise made a huge difference for patients three years after treatment and cancer-free.

“These patients not only seemed to have improved overall survival if they were more physically active, but also seemed to have slightly better overall survival compared to the general population,” says Meyerhardt.

Even patients with repeated cancers had improved survival when they had more regular exercise compared to those with the least physical activity.

He says patients who saw the benefits were exercising what was equivalent to walking about an hour a day at a rate of 2-3 miles per hour, about six days a week.

Kathryn Schmitz is an exercise oncology researcher at the University of Pittsburgh and director of the Moving Through Cancer Program at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. She is a firm believer in the power of exercise to reduce the risk of dying from colon cancer and prevent it in the first place.

“I know it’s within patient control that is more powerful in reducing cancer mortality, especially colon cancer mortality,” Schmitz says.

Researchers are still trying to grasp mechanisms in action. However, Schmitz says evidence from animal models suggests that physical activity triggers a series of chemical reactions in cells that promote health in multiple ways.

“What you might think is that all of our cells are soaked in some kind of soup and change as a result of the more physically active the components of that soup,” says Schmitz.

When you tend to sit, your immune system doesn’t work well, and your cells are prone to inflammatory, which can mutate them, she says. However, regular exercise reduces inflammation and improves immune function.

“Cell-bathed soups are healthier in ways that reduce cancer development and cancer progression,” she says.

Exercise can also improve insulin sensitivity, and insulin plays a role in spurring the growth of colorectal cancer cells, he says Kimmy ng doctorfounding director of Dana Farmer’s Young Oakset Colorectal Cancer Center.

And when colon and rectal cancer rates are rising among people under the age of 50, it is more important than ever to reveal the words about exercise.

NG said that researchers don’t exactly know that it promotes a “surprising” rise in colorectal and rectal cancers in adults under the age of 50, but studies suggest that colorectal cancer is strongly associated with several modifiable lifestyle factors, such as diet and physical activity.

Of all these factors, Ng said, “the movement has probably some of the most powerful data that supports the benefits of being protective.” And exercise is beneficial at any age, but younger ones are better.

“We believe that exercise that begins as a child and adolescence is also extremely important to protect as an adult from the future risk of developing colon cancer,” says Ng.

Guidelines from Recommended by the American Cancer Society People undergo 150 minutes of moderate-intensive physical activity each week to reduce their risk of cancer. But if it seems like more exercise than you have time or energy, Schmitz says something is better than nothing all the time.

“If you can do 90 minutes more than you’re doing now, that’s a victory,” Schmitz says. “If you can do more than 60 minutes than you’re doing now, it’s a victory. Make sure that the perfect person doesn’t become the enemy of good.

Edited by Jane Greenhulg