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09
Mar 2021
New research finds exercise can help prevent cancers
Scientists say taking regular exercise will become increasingly important in helping to prevent cancers as the UK emerges from lockdown.
Since the start of the pandemic a year ago, increasing numbers of people have reported gaining weight after cutting down on physical activity and others say they have been eating more junk food.
Being overweight or obese increases individuals’ vulnerability to tissue damage and the development of tumours, with over a dozen types of cancer having been linked to excess weight in recent research studies.
Professor Linda Bauld of Edinburgh University, who will be chairing sessions at a virtual conference, Cancer Prevention – Physical Activity, said that although smoking and tobacco remained the main cause of cancer in the UK, obesity was now the second highest risk and the future is likely to become the main cause of cancer in the UK, obesity now carried the second highest risk and is likely to become the main cause in the future.
Professor Bauld said “We need to eat better food, but it is equally clear that regular exercise is also very important in cancer prevention.”
Among the cancers that have been shown to benefit from increased physical activity are bowel and breast cancers. Patients who have been treated for primary tumours have an increased chance of their cancers not returning if they exercise more often and have improved diets, it has been found.
Another recent study undertaken by Cancer Research UK shows that about four out of ten cancer cases in the UK – more than 135,000 cases – could be prevented each year mostly through changes in lifestyle, with increased physical activity of any kind playing a key role.
Professor Bauld went on to say “The real problem is having too much fat in our bodies. However, there is a lot of evidence that helping people to become more active can do a lot of good. And this area is under-researched so it is very likely that there may be more benefits for cancer prevention through increased physical activity that we don’t know about yet.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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