Exercise, by far, is one of the most important factors that affect a person’s well-being. Not only does regular exercise benefit our physical health, but it also plays a vital role in enhancing and stimulating social, mental and emotional health as well.

In general, exercise refers to exerting effort through our body to do activities that would result to the improvement of our health and promotion of a healthier level of fitness – both physically and mentally. It therefore aims to not only improve our physical fitness, also our overall health too.

• Colon Cancer

  The result of a new study conducted by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine’s Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis’ Barnes-Jewish Hospital revealed that performing consistent exercise is linked to a reduced risk of colon cancer-related death.  This particular study is considered to be amongst the first to illustrate that consistent physical activity can make colon cancer less deadly.

  Researchers from Washington University worked with their American Cancer Society colleagues in examining information coming from the American Cancer Society Prevention Study II (CPS II) to examine whether physical activity changes affects either the incidence of diagnosis or death risks involved with colon cancer.

  According to Kathleen Y. Wolin, ScD, one of the study’s authors, people who lived actively through their adult lives had a reduced risk of dying from colon cancer, compared to those who lived sedentary lifestyles.  At the start of the year, people would often wonder whether it’s too late to exercise or not.  Truth is, it is always “better late than never” in the case of exercise.  People should make it a point to get up from those couches and start living actively – because it’s never too late, and it’s never too early.  This is the message that the authors want to impart to people.

  Wolin emphasized that the benefits of a regular exercise program is not solely limited to the prevention of colon cancer development and death due to the disease, but it also helps lower a person’s risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as other forms of cancer.  She further stated that the greatest benefits are more likely to mount up in people who have done regular exercise for the most part of their lives.  However, she stresses that running marathons, or working out for a great number of hours per day is not necessary. A 30-minute walks each days would suffice.  This will help lower a person’s risk of a plethora of diseases.  Furthermore, their study revealed that the person who exercises regularly tends to function and feel better – both mentally and physically. Wolin is associated with the Division of Public Health Sciences as an assistant professor of surgery.

  Additionally, physical activity can also be valuable after a person has been diagnosed with cancer.  Wolin said that there is evidence that supports the claim that physical activity helps reduce the risk of death, and recurrence, after a diagnosis of cancer has been made.  So this means that physical activity is not only used as a form of prevention, but it can also be utilized as a means to manage the condition.

• Diabetes

  A group of researchers from the Louisiana State University conducted a study evaluating the effects of combination exercise to type 2 diabetes patients. They found that the combination of resistance training and aerobic exercise can offer significant health benefits to type 2 diabetes patients by helping them manage their blood sugar levels. The results of the study were compared to diabetes management plans with either type of exercise and with no exercise at all. Researchers said that exercise can give numerous benefits to type 2 diabetes patients but despite that, it is unclear which type of exercise has greater benefits in managing the condition. This is what they aimed to find out.

  The researchers gathered a group of 262 men and women who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and who did not use exercise as a means of managing their condition. The researchers compared the effects of aerobic exercise, resistance training program and a combination of the two against not exercising. After the nine-month study period, the researchers observed a significant change in the blood sugar levels in study participants who took the combination exercise program. In addition to this, the patients also needed lesser pharmaceutical medication in order to manage the disease compared to the other groups. The group who did not exercise needed to increase their medication by 39 percent compared to the group which took resistance training, 22 percent against aerobic exercise and 18 percent compared to combination exercise.

  The head of the research team, Timothy S. Church, said that even though both aerobic and resistance training program have been proven to be beneficial to diabetes management, the combination of the two programs produced better results. He added that it is also important to consider the lower blood sugar levels in the combination group compared to the group with no exercise despite the latter having increased usage of diabetes medication.

• Thrombosis

  A group of researchers from Canada conducted a study involving a group of thrombosis patients. They evaluated the effects of performing long-term leg exercises to the symptoms of the health condition. The researchers designed a specialized training program lasting for six months dedicated at improving leg flexibility and strength and overall fitness and they found that the program improves symptoms of deep vein thrombosis and its chronic complications. It has also been found to improve the symptoms of post-thrombotic syndrome. The study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

  A professor of medicine from the Division of Internal Medicine and Center for Clinical Epidemiology at McGill University, Dr Susan Kahn, said that given the divergence in treatment plans for managing the symptoms of post-thrombotic syndrome, the pilot study, aimed at determining the effectiveness of exercise training to treat post-thrombosis, establishes a new approach on more effective ways of fighting the condition. The researchers, led by Dr Kahn, gathered a group of 95 thrombosis patients. The authors said that findings of the small trial procedures will need further confirmation and that conducting a larger study is recommended. A variable was that most of the patients were young active and well-educated; results may differ on different demographics. Despite the preliminary quality of their findings, the researchers concluded that exercise training designed at improving leg flexibility and strength can help alleviate the pains of post-thrombotic syndromes.

• Endometrial Cancer

  A recent study revealed that a weekly exercise of 150 minutes or more may reduce a woman’s risk of developing cancer of the endometrium by up to one-third. The research effort was led by an associate professor of Yale School of Public Health located in New Haven, Connecticut, Herbert Yu, MD, MSc, PhD.  Researchers compared 665 healthy, cancer-free women with 668 women, who were diagnosed with endometrial cancer and who were of the same age as the cancer-free group.  The women were given questionnaires for them to answer questions asking about their recreational performance, environment, lifestyle and other physical activities.

  Based on the results of the survey, the researchers discovered that women who are in the habit of exercising 150 minutes or more each week exhibited a 34 percent reduction in the risk of endometrial cancer even when factors such as the body mass index (BMI) were adjusted.  The BMI is actually an approximation of one’s body fat in terms of weight and height. The study also revealed that for active women who had a BMI of 25, or less than 25, greater risk reduction was noted – specifically pegged at 73 percent. Meanwhile, women with normal weight but are inactive exhibited a 55 percent lowered risk and overweight, active women had a 38 percent reduced risk.  The findings of the research were presented at the Ninth Annual American Association for Cancer Research International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research which was held in Philadelphia.

  The researchers expressed that the results of the study suggests that both BMI and exercise levels affect a person’s risk of developing endometrial cancer.  They also re-affirm previous findings that show an independent link between the reduced risk for endometrial cancer and exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put out a recommendation saying that adults between the ages of 18 and 64 get a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week.  Exercises that promote the strengthening of all major muscle groups should be performed at least twice in a week.

Sources
news.wustl.edu
mayoclinic.com
eurekalert.org
webmd.com