Walking and yoga can cut risk of cancer spreading or returning

Walking for 30 minutes a day and practising yoga can help reduce fatigue in cancer patients and cut the risk of the disease spreading, coming back or resulting in death, research suggests.
Globally, more than 18 million people develop cancer every year. It is well known that being inactive raises your risk of various forms of the disease. Now the world’s leading cancer researchers are learning more about the benefits of getting or staying active after being diagnosed. For decades, many oncologists and health professionals have remained reluctant to push patients to exercise in the wake of sometimes gruelling treatment regimes. But the tide appears to be turning.
Three studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) add weight to growing evidence that physical activity can help, not hinder, patients.
“It was: ‘You’re sick, take it easy and rest,’” Dr Melissa Hudson, a leading expert in cancer survival, said at the conference. Now, growing numbers of doctors are of the view that patients should resume exercise, even if only gradually at first, “sooner rather than later”.
The first study was a randomised control trial into the impact of yoga’s effect on inflammation. Inflammation can be a powerful force in cancer development, aiding and abetting tumour growth and spread around the body.
In the study, more than 500 cancer patients with an average age of 56 were recruited from across the US. All had received treatment for the disease between two months and five years earlier.
They were randomised to take up yoga or attend health education classes for a month. Each group took part in 75-minute sessions twice a week for four weeks. The patients then underwent a series of blood tests. The research found those who took up yoga had “significantly lower levels of pro-inflammatory markers” compared with patients in the other group.
In the second study, researchers examined yoga’s impact on fatigue and quality of life. Yoga was found to be better at helping relieve fatigue and maintain quality of life, the research found.
A third study found cancer patients who are active can reduce their risk of dying by almost a fifth.
The six-year research involved more than 2,600 cancer patients in Brazil. Patients were ranked by their activity levels, with “active” classed as going for at least one 30-minute walk five days a week.
The results showed the risk of death was higher in those with a sedentary lifestyle. After 180 days, 90 per cent of people in the active group were still alive, compared with 74 per cent in the sedentary group.