(RxWiki News) Getting more exercise could mean a lower risk for many types of cancer, a new study found.
And when much of the population isn't getting recommended amounts of exercise and cancer continues to be a top health concern, that could be big news.
The National Cancer Institute researchers behind this study found that, compared to lower levels of physical activity, higher levels were tied to a lower risk for 13 cancer types. Those cancer types included esophageal adenocarcinoma, liver, lung, kidney, gastric cardia, endometrial, myeloid leukemia, myeloma, colon, head and neck, rectal, bladder and breast.
However, high exercise levels were tied to a slightly increased risk for prostate cancer and increased risk for melanoma (a type of skin cancer).
Diet and smoking status may have contributed to these findings. Smoking was found to affect the association between exercise and lung cancer risk but did not seem to affect other smoking-related cancers.
Talk to your doctor about how to exercise safely and lower your cancer risk.
This study was published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Information on funding sources and conflicts of interest was not available at the time of publication.
