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Posted on Oct 11, 2006, 1 p.m.
By Bill Freeman
Aerobic exercise seems to play a major role in reducing the risk of colon cancer and colon polyps in men. Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, all collaborated on a study to test the effects of exercise on colon cancer bio-markers in colon tissue.
Aerobic exercise seems to play a major role in reducing the risk of colon cancer and colon polyps in men.
Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, all collaborated on a study to test the effects of exercise on colon cancer bio-markers in colon tissue.
The findings are published in the September edition of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
The subjects in the study were healthy, men and women between the ages of 40 & 75 who led sedentary lifestyles - 202 in total.
Lead author Anne McTiernan, an epidemiologist and director of Hutchinson Center's Prevention Center, said that a significant decrease in actively dividing cells in areas prone to colon cancer was found in men who exercised on a daily basis: "In men who met the study's exercise prescription of an hour of aerobic activity per day, six days a week for a year, we saw a substantial decrease in the amount of cellular proliferation in the areas of the colon that are most vulnerable to colon cancer. However, we found that even four hours or more of exercise weekly was enough to produce a significant benefit."
Body weight was not found to be determining factor on the effect of exercise on dividing cells in the area of the colon.
McTiernan, a member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center and a faculty member at the University of Washington told Asia News International explained, "These effects were independent of weight. Vigorous exercise was helpful for men of any size, as long as they worked out nearly every day."
McTiernan said, "This finding supports previous epidemiological studies that also have suggested that regular exercise reduces the risk of colon cancer in men more than in women. It's not a finding that we really wanted to see, but at least our results are consistent with those of previous population-based, epidemiological studies."
