#Exercise Prevents Cancer
#Exercise prevents Cancer. In fact it helps decrease the risk of up to 13 cancers and high levels of physical activity are associated with a 7% lower risk of total cancer. Approximately 614,348 Americans die from heart disease each year and 591,699 from Cancer. Exercise can help improve heart health, prevent cancer and keep you living a longer, healthier life.
A recent study looked at over 1.4 Million Adults in the United States and Europe , 57% of them female, and found that in people who exercised more, they had decreased risk of developing cancer. Specifically the 13 Cancers highlighted below in green. The association between increased physical activity and decreased risk of cancer was found regardless of body size (BMI) and history of smoking.
Interestingly, increased exercise was also associated with increased risk of prostate cancer and malignant melanoma - a skin cancer. The scientists took a closer look at this. For prostate cancer we know that more active and healthier men are more likely to get physical exams and blood work to detect prostate cancer. Meaning that the increased association may be due to the fact that we are looking more in healthier males than in less healthy males, and is not an increase in prostate cancer due to exercise. Also, the types of prostate cancer found in the healthy males in this study were more likely to be 'non-advanced', meaning they were in early stages and may not have posed any great health risk. Read more about prostate cancer here.
"Prostate cancer can be a serious disease, but most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it. "
What about skin cancer? Well - the type of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, that they found exercise increases the risk of is also associated with Sun and Ultra-violet (UV) ray exposure. The scientist were actually able to show that the association between exercise and skin cancer was stronger in areas with high UV exposure. So if you're getting out for a hike, run or bike ride remember to cover up and wear sun-screen.
1. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
2. http://www.cancer.org/healthy/besafeinthesun/index
3. http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2521826