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Exercise Reduces the Risk of Several Cancers
While we often focus on cardiovascular risk benefits associated with exercise, it can reduce your risk of getting cancer, too.
I have often extolled physical activity virtues, whether through walking or running, weight lifting, or yoga. We often think of physical activity in terms of its impact on chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. As a cancer doctor and as a proponent of physical movement (of any type), I would like to chat about the cancer risk-reducing properties of exercise. We will look at the effect of exercise on various cancers.
Scope of the Problem
In the USA, 1.7 million individuals are diagnosed with invasive cancer each year, and more than six hundred thousand will die of the disease. We have to do better, and one strategy is risk reduction. However, our understanding of the relation between physical activity and cancer risk, and whether commonly recommended amounts of physical activity (for example, 2.5 to 5 hours per week of moderate-intensity exercise or 7.5 to 15 metabolic equivalent task [MET] hours per week) is adequate to reduce your risk of getting cancer. Some studies have not linked engagement in the recommended amounts of physical activity and significantly lower cancer risk.
