From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for
answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The
following entry appeared on March 3, 2012…
I’ve talked
about this subject before, but it’s one that doesn’t seem to yield to mere
discussion:
As of this
moment, I still alternately loathe exercise and acknowledge its importance.
Even acknowledging its importance, I rarely do it. And to tell you the truth,
I’m completely unsure about the connection between exercise and avoiding or
helping cure cancer. So I decided to do some research and was surprised by what
I found – or more precisely what I DIDN’T find. I didn’t find a clear
explanation of the biological mechanisms connecting exercise and cancer
survivorship.
I am ALWAYS
leery when “researchers” make broad, sweeping, seemingly miraculous claims
about anything – like those constantly irritating little “do this one weird
fact” ads promise. In this article, identical statements are made but
completely unsupported: “Researchers have established that regular physical
activity can improve health by helping to control weight, maintaining healthy
bones, muscles, and joints, reducing the risk of developing high blood pressure
and diabetes, promoting psychological well-being, and reducing the risk of
death from heart disease, reducing the risk of premature death. In addition to
these health benefits, researchers are learning that physical activity can also
affect the risk of cancer. There is convincing evidence that physical activity
is associated with a reduced risk of cancers of the colon and breast. Several
studies also have reported links between physical activity and a reduced risk
of cancers of the prostate, lung, and lining of the uterus (endometrial
cancer). Despite these health benefits, recent studies have shown that more
than 50 percent of Americans do not engage in enough regular physical
activity...”
There you have
it: wild claims of miraculous health benefits and a sad lamentation that half
of us are lazy slobs. How helpful! The fact is that beyond the hyperbole
fostered by the Nordic Track (and its ilk) INDUSTRY, there are buried some real
facts. It took me quite a bit of time to ferret these out and once I was done I
realized I’ll be doing an article for EACH of the ten things below. I’ll start
next Saturday, so for now, I leave you with these to ponder:
- Exercise may prevent tumor development by lowering hormone levels, (particularly in premenopausal women), as well as lowering levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor
- A home-based physical activity program had a beneficial effect on the fitness and psychological well-being of previously sedentary women who had completed treatment for early-stage through stage II breast cancer. Increasing physical activity may influence insulin and leptin levels and influence breast cancer prognosis.
- Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by several mechanisms, including decreasing sex hormones
- Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by several mechanisms including reducing metabolic hormones and inflammation
- Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by improving immune function
- Studies in postmenopausal women indicate that physical activity might affect postmenopausal breast cancer and endometrial cancer risk by reducing body fat, thereby lowering circulating levels of estrogens and androgens
- Insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia, hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes have been linked to increased risk of breast, colon, pancreas and endometrial cancers. Physical activity improves insulin resistance, reduces hyperinsulinaemia and reduces risk for diabetes, which could explain the link between increased physical activity and reduced risk for these cancers
- Increased levels of pro-inflammatory factors and decreased levels of anti-inflammatory factors have been linked with increased cancer risk. Physical activity might reduce systemic inflammation alone or in combination with reduction in body weight or composition through reducing inflammatory cytokines in adipose tissue.
- Physical activity appears to enhance proliferation of lymphocytes, increases the number of natural killer cells and increases lymphokine-activated killer cells activity.
- “The complicated nature of the physical activity variable, combined with lack of knowledge regarding possible biological mechanisms operating between physical activity and cancer, warrants further studies including controlled clinical randomized trials.”
References: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfje/5230/cancer-ex-Thune-01.pdf, http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/physicalactivity, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545870_2
Image: http://voluume.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Encore-Sessions.jpg