Here’s one more reason to start working out!
Exercise plays an important role in preventing a variety of cancers, including breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, kidney, endometrium, uterus, and bladder, according to a new study.
The study, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, has also found that exercising while you are battling cancer could help reduce fatigue, stress, depression, and anxiety, which are often associated with the disease. Working out after receiving the diagnosis and while undergoing treatment improves the quality of your life.
Based on the findings of the study, researchers suggested that a proper exercise regimen could be planned after taking the patient’s overall condition into consideration.
Clinicians may prescribe mildly to moderately intense exercise routine for at least 30 minutes a day thrice a week, which is done only after considering a patient’s overall condition and physical activities or abilities.
The study found that stopping physical activity after receiving the cancer diagnosis could cause functional decline so it is imperative to move more.
Several studies have documented that exercising can dramatically decrease pain in cancer patients. Physical activities could induce positive thoughts so that they can deal with anxiety and depression. In addition, it makes one feel more energetic.
The researchers explained that exercise may also help change the tumor cell environment, triggering anti-cancerous activity in the immune system that can fight off the malignant cells.
Being obese or overweight is often associated with increased cancer risk. Obesity could lead to cancers of the liver, pancreas, breast, and endometrium. And we all know what exercise can do to obese and overweight people, of course, in association with a healthy diet. So, physical activity also helps in cutting down the factors that can cause cancers.
The study also found that exercising is beneficial for the heart health of cancer patients. Those who suffer from cancer are vulnerable to cardiovascular disease, so they need a customized exercise regimen to improve their cardiovascular health.
Explaining that the physical activity level of cancer patients is very less, lead study author Dr. Flavio D’Ascenzi said, “Endurance training is effective in improving cardiovascular health but resistance training is better to start with for patients who are weak and fragile.” Last week, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Sports Medicine, the University of British Columbia, and 14 other international organizations issued the new international exercise guidelines published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which mentioned that even a little exercise could help avoid and survive many types of cancer.
