Back to Articles Page
Back to main Kaipara Medical Centre page

Run For Your Life

Middle-aged men take note:  exercising two or more times per week may recude your risk of developing different types of cancer, according to British researchers.

"Physical activity in middle-aged men is associated with reduced risk of total cancers, prostate cancer, upper digestive and stomach cancer," reprot Dr S.G. Wannamethee and colleagues at the University College Medical School in London.

Wannamethee's team followed 7.588 men aged 40 to 59 for nearly 19 years. The investigators collected information regarding exercise habits as well as cancer diagnosis and overall health. Over the follow-up period, 969 men were diagnosed with some type of cancer, the report indicates.

Taking into consideration other risk factors, including smoking habits, weight, alcohol consumption and age, the researchers found that "the risk of total cancers was significantly reduced only in men reporting moderately vigorous or vigorous activity; no benefit was seen at lesser levels".

Men who reported participating in vigorous activities including running, golf, swimming, tennis, sailing and digging more than once per month were less likely to develop cancer than men who did not take part in such activities or did so infrequently.

Source: British Journal of Cancer 2001;85:1311-1316

Back to Articles Page
Back to main Kaipara Medical Centre page