5 Ways Exercise Fights Cancer (Medical Minute #7)
Learn to Love Exercise, It Can Save Your Life
I think 99% of us have a love/hate relationship with exercise. I personally hate it when I take that first step. The gasping for air as I try to find a comfortable breathing pattern, all the while my muscles screaming to me that I should stop takes mental fortitude to overcome. It’s just dreadful the first 2 minutes! But a minute or two after that, I find the rhythm of my breath and my muscles get used to the pounding. And 30 min later, I’m on a high and am in love with this thing called exercise.
Science has shown that exercise helps prevent and possibly fight cancer. Cancer patients and survivors benefit from frequent exercise. This is something your doctor may not have told you, but the science is there (keep reading)
5 Reasons Cancer Patients and Survivors Should Start Exercising
DISCLAIMER: Always consult your healthcare practitioner when starting a healthcare regimen. Too much or too strenuous physical activity could do the reverse and cause too much inflammation in the body, which is not good for cancer patients or survivors.
1) Exercise can naturally boost the body’s immune system. Natural killer cells are part of your body’s immune system. Exercise puts them on alert and they search the body for cancer cells and destroy them immediately. Other important immune system cells, like T-cells and B-cells, also are increased during exercise and help kill cancer cells too. (Reference: Pedersen L. Voluntary Running Suppresses Tumor Growth through Epinephrine- and IL-6-Dependent NK Cell Mobilization and Redistribution. Cell Metabolism, 2016; 23: 554)
2) Exercise stops the cancer cells from growing. As you know, tumors are cells that divide, and divide, and divide into infinity. Exercise produces a substance known as Insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP). It stops cancer cells from growing unchecked and uncontrollably. This protein also causes cancer cells to die off (otherwise known as apoptosis). (Reference: Haydon AM, Macinnis RJ, English DR, et al. The effect of physical activity and body size on survival after diagnosis with colorectal cancer. Gut 2006;55:62–)
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3) Exercise can change bad genes to good genes. Some people think they have bad genes. They say “well my parents had it, so I must get it too.” Not true! Less than 10% of cancer is caused by genes. The rest is due to poor lifestyle habits. New science is showing that exercise can change those bad genes to good ones. It’s now known that physical activity can cause known “bad” cancer genes to change for the better, lowering your risk of cancer.
For instance, the gene that causes prostate cancer, known as “RAS,” goes “quiet” and stops making cancer-causing chemicals when men do vigorous exercise. (Reference: Ornish D, Magbanua MJ, Weider G, et al. Changes in prostate gene expression in men undergoing an intensive nutrition and lifestyle intervention. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2008;105:8369–74.)
Most women have probably have heard of the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. When these two genes are on their best behavior, they act like guard dogs and fight off any growing breast cancer. But when they’re bad (they can mutate and become bad) well they’re more like a guard dog given a big piece of juicy meat, and breast cancer just grows and grows. When women exercise regularly, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the best guard dogs ever! They fight breast cancer very well. (Reference: Manders PA, Physical activity and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2010 Feb; 120(1):235-44.)
4) Exercise controls inflammation. Some inflammation is good. Like when you have a cold, the immune system is working hard, which increases inflammation. The benefit is that your body fights the virus that caused the cold. However, consistent inflammation is not good. It can lead to cancer. Two markers of inflammation are high levels of C-reactive protein and Interleukins. High levels that do not decrease may lead to cancer, which may be more advanced cancer.
5) Exercise produces helpful antioxidants. Yes, too much exercise can be a bad thing. It can cause inflammation in the body if done over a long period of time without stopping (think marathon running). The body fights this excess inflammation by making helpful anti-oxidants. These substances are also found in fruits and vegetables. They stop inflammation, which as mentioned above, can lead to cancer. (Reference: Thomas RJ, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2017. 51:640)
To Your Best Health!
Dr. Dee Grace
Bedside Manners advocates for cancer patients to receive better healthcare. We focus on 3 things: 1) educating patients on science-backed natural ways to improve their quality of life; 2) empowering patients and survivors with a “survivorship game-plan”; and 3) ensuring patients receive quality healthcare that improves their chances of survival.
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