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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Get walking! Study shows it's good for your colon
By JAMIE LAMPROSOGDEN -- It's a well-known fact that exercise is good for your heart, lungs and waistline, but a new study now says it's also good for your colon.
After following around 79,295 women for 16 years between the ages of 40 to 65, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that walking an hour a week seemed to protect against colon cancer.
"Our findings suggest that participation in lower intensity activities may be sufficient to reduce risk, though more vigorous activity provides comparable or perhaps additional risk reduction," said co-author of the study, Dr. Kathleen Y. Wolin, in the January issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
According to the study, women who walked one hour each week were 31 percent less likely to develop colon cancer compared with those who didn't walk at all.
Women who exercised at moderate or vigorous levels for more than four hours each week were 44 percent less likely to develop the disease.
The study focused specifically on walking because that is the most common type of exercise women participate in, according to researchers.
The study states it is not clear exactly how walking lowers the risk of colon cancer. However, Dr. John Lowe, a gastroenterologist at Ridgeline Endoscopy in South Ogden, said exercise may reduce insulin stress on the pancreas as well as reducing inflammation throughout the body.
Lowe said he believes the study is reasonable, but he encourages people to walk more than one hour a week.
"Exercise, and certainly aerobic exercise, helps prevent a lot of diseases, including colon cancer," Lowe said. "But I would suggest people walk 45 minutes three times a week instead of an hour a week. The more, the better, and the healthier you are."
Of course, Lowe said, walking isn't the only way to prevent colon cancer. Regular colonoscopies are great at finding an early polyp before it turns into the deadly cancer.
Aspirin and other anti-inflammatories as well as calcium seems to also reduce your risk, he said.
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