Introduction

A new study has found that men who run, swim, and bike can reduce their risk of developing nine types of cancer.

Research Findings

Researchers have found that men with good cardiorespiratory exercise are less likely to develop cancers of the head and neck, stomach, pancreas, liver, colon, rectum, kidney, lung, and esophagus.

Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to a person’s ability to perform aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, long swims, or even climbing stairs.

Study Details

Researchers in Sweden tracked down a new study that was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, just over a million men aged 33 on average.

The men in the study were called up for military service in Sweden between 1968 and 2005.

At the start of recruitment, the men underwent a series of tests to evaluate a number of factors, including height, weight, blood pressure, muscle strength, and cardiorespiratory fitness.

During the follow-up period, about 84,000 participants developed cancer.

The researchers found that compared to men with lower cardiorespiratory fitness, men with higher cardiorespiratory fitness were:

• 19% less chance of getting head and neck cancer.
• 39% less chance of developing cancer of the esophagus (esophagus).
• 21% less chance of getting stomach cancer.
• 40% less chance of developing liver cancer.
• 18% less chance of getting bowel cancer
• 5% less chance of developing colorectal cancer
• 20% less chance of developing kidney cancer.
• 42% less likely to get lung cancer.
• 12% less chance of developing pancreatic cancer.

“These findings could inform public health policy development, increasing motivation to promote interventions to improve cardiorespiratory endurance in young people,” the researchers note in the paper.

Other Findings

The researchers found that higher cardiorespiratory endurance was associated with a small (7%) increased risk of prostate cancer and a 31% increased risk of skin cancer.

A previous study on the same dataset reported that a small increase in prostate cancer risk was not associated with a higher rate of aggressive prostate cancer or prostate cancer death and could be due to increased screening.

The team hypothesized that the higher incidence of skin cancer could be explained by “higher UV exposure” during exercise.

Source

Source: Independent