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Half of the diagnoses cancer They are attributed to environmental and lifestyle factors. Prevention is, therefore, a powerful tool for reducing the incidence of cancer in the population.. Several scientific studies have analyzed the positive effects of physical activity in reducing the risk of developing the disease. Indeed, limited and inconclusive data show an association between physical activity and a 27% reduction in the incidence of lung cancer among smokers or a 12 percent reduction in the kidney cancer.
Now, a new study from Tel Aviv University (Israel) has demonstrated its influence in preventing the worst cancer. According to the researchers, whose work was published in the scientific journal ‘Cancer research‘, the intense aerobic exercise increases the consumption of glucose by internal organs, thereby reducing the energy availability for tumor metastasis. Which translates to a reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by 72%. “If until now the general message to the public has been ‘be active, be healthy’, we can now explain how aerobic activity can maximize the prevention of more aggressive and metastatic cancer types,” the authors point out.
I study
The study combined laboratory models (mice) trained under a strict exercise regimen, with data from healthy human volunteers examined before and after the run. Human data, obtained from an epidemiological study that followed 3,000 individuals for approximately 20 years, indicated a 72% fewer metastatic tumors in participants who reported regular high-intensity aerobic activity, compared with those who did not exercise.
The mouse model showed a similar result, allowing the researchers to identify its underlying mechanism. After inoculating the animals with cancer, they found that aerobic activity significantly reduced the development of metastatic tumors in the lymph nodes, lungs and liver. The researchers hypothesized that, in both humans and animals, this outcome is favorable related to the increase in the rate of glucose consumption induced by exercise.
“By examining the cells of these organs, we found an increase in the number of glucose receptors during high-intensity aerobic activity, which increases glucose consumption and turns organs into efficient energy-consuming machines, just like muscles. . We assume that this occurs because the organs must compete for sugar resources with the muscles, which notoriously burn large amounts of glucose during exercise. if cancer develops, the fierce competition for glucose reduces the availability of energy which is essential for metastasis”, comments Carmit Levy, one of the heads of the investigation. Also, the expert points out that “When a person exercises regularly, this condition becomes permanent: the internal organ tissues change and become similar to muscle tissue”. “We all know that sport and exercise are good for health. Our study, looking at internal organs, found that exercise changes the entire body, therefore the cancer cannot spread and even the primary tumor shrinks in size”adds about it.
What kind of exercise helps prevent cancer?
“Our findings indicate that, unlike fat-burning exercise, which is relatively moderate, it is high-intensity aerobic activity that helps prevent cancer.. If the optimal intensity range for fat burning is 65-70 percent of your maximum heart rate, burning sugar requires 80-85 percent, even if only for short intervals”, added another of the authors, Yftach Gepner.
For example, they urge a one-minute sprint followed by a walk and then another sprint. “In the past, these types of intervals were typical of athletes’ training regimens, but today we see them in other exercise routines as well, such as cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. Our results suggest that healthy people should also include high-intensity components in their fitness programs.”
