Alternative Health Blog

A decade ago, physical therapists who started exercise programs for cancer patients were considered avant-garde—and maybe even a little too proactive in helping people recover and prevent recurrence. Some medical doctors were questioning workout programs for patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation. There was doubt about whether exercise and physical activity made much of difference in preventing cancer cells from forming or reforming in the body.

Since then, researchers have built a strong case for being physically active. Every cancer care center offers exercise programs or points patients where they can find tailored workouts. A new study puts an exclamation point on the evidence.

Researchers at Japan’s National Cancer Center in Tokyo followed more than 79,000 adults for 10 years, finding regularly active men and women developed a lower risk to a range of cancer. The most protective effects related to colon, liver, stomach and pancreative cancers. The results were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The subjects were between 45 and 74 years old when the study began. An insightful result is cancer risk reduction was greatest among healthy-weight men and women. The researchers explained that this finding aligns with other studies showing weight control helps prevent cancer, just as much as other conditions including heart disease, diabetes and strokes.

Being overweight increases cancer risk, even if the person does exercise, said the researchers. The risk differences between overweight exercisers and the overweight  sedentary population was not statistically significant in the Japan study.

Interesting point here. We tend to associate extra weight as a strain on the heart. Most people don’t equate being overweight with upping the risk for cancer cells to form in the body. Scientists theorize that controlling body fat helps discourage cancer growth, and that physical activity can stimulate the immune system while tamping down the body’s production of substances (including certain hormones and insulin byproducts) that otherwise might feed tumors.

The Japan study contributes one more fresh angle. Physical activity was not strictly defined as exercise, but included the minutes per day that subjects walked, did housework or performed physical labor. Score one for being more active in any way possible during the day and not just when you can make it to the gym.

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.