Health Check
Exercise that fights cancer
by Carl Lowe
What's your favourite type of physical activity? Walking? Playing
ball? Biking? A study at the University of British Columbia in Canada
shows which type of exercise is best for dropping your cancer risk. And
if that's not motivation enough to get exercise, I don't know what is.
According to researchers at the School of Population and Public
Health at the University of British Columbia, the best exercise for
fighting cancer is the type of vigorous activity that you enjoy so much
that you do it consistently, day after day, week after week, and year
after year.
Their results show that lifetime exercisers reduce the risk for
non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 25 to 30 percent compared to people who don't
move around much.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that begins in the immune
cells called lymphocytes that are found in the lymph nodes, spleen and
bone marrow. As you get older, your chances of suffering non-Hodgkin
lymphoma increases. Most of these cancers appear in people over age 60.
About 550,000 Americans currently suffer from this type of cancer and
its incidence has doubled in the past twenty years.
This Canadian study confirms what a great deal of other research has
shown - consistency is the most important element of any exercise
program if you want to get significant health benefits from your
workouts.
Don't overdo it, get injured and then give it up. Better to start
really slow and keep at it than to flame out. The exercise done today is
not that meaningful. It's being able to fill the years ahead with
exercise that offers the biggest health rewards.
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