How lifestyle guards gut
Tuesday March 8th, 2011
Doctors have unveiled new insights into how healthy lifestyles may help prevent cancer of the gut.
New
findings today link high levels of healthy cholesterol to a reduced risk
of bowel cancer.
An analysis of people involved in European research into the links between cancer and nutrition found that high levels of high density lipoprotein - the healthy form of cholesterol - was linked to the lowest risk of this cancer.
Dutch researchers compared some 1,200 people with cancer with another 1,200 healthy people for the research, reported in the journal Gut.
* A second study has found that people with an active lifestyle are up to three times less likely than others to develop polyps in the bowel, which can develop into bowel cancer.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, USA, examined data from 20 studies to produce figures that show how low exercise levels are linked to bowel polyps.
Writing in the British Journal of Cancer yesterday (March 2, 2011), the researchers found that people who took regular exercise were 16 per cent less likely to develop bowel polyps, and 30 per cent less likely to develop large or advanced polyps, which are the most likely to develop into cancer.
The results support an analysis by the same group, which showed that people who are physically active can reduce their risk of bowel cancer, the third most common cancer in the UK, by one quarter.
Lead author Professor Kathleen Wolin said: “We’ve long known that an active lifestyle can protect against bowel cancer, but this study is the first to look at all the available evidence and show that a reduction in bowel polyps is the most likely explanation for this.
“Exercise has many benefits, including boosting the immune system, decreasing inflammation in the bowel and helping to reduce insulin levels – all factors which we know are likely to have an effect on bowel polyp risk.
“We hope these results will encourage more people to enjoy the many benefits of regular exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, including a reduction in bowel cancer risk.”
Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: “Evidence shows that keeping active could help to prevent thousands of cases of cancer every year and this study adds weight to evidence showing regular exercise can substantially cut the risk of bowel cancer.
“We’d recommend doing at least half an hour’s moderate exercise a day – such as brisk walking or anything that leaves you slightly out of breath.”
Gut March 8 2011 doi 10.1136
British Journal of Cancer March 2 2011
Tags: Cancer | Diet & Food | Europe | Fitness | Gastroenterology | North America | UK News
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