Being Active During These Times of the Day May Reduce the Risk of Colon Cancer

• A new study has found that exercising at certain times of the day may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
• Activity is known to reduce cancer risk, but how timing affects this has not been adequately studied.
• Colorectal cancer rates have fallen since the ’80s, but have increased by 1 to 2% annually in people under 55 since the mid-’90s.

Being physically active both in the morning and in the evening, colorectal cancer risk According to a new study, 11%.

Previous studies They found that people who exercised regularly had a lower risk of colorectal cancer than those who did not. This latest research was published September 18 in the journal BMC MedicineHe suggests that the time of day someone is active may also have an impact.

Professor Michael Leitzmann, lead author of the study and head of the department of epidemiology and preventive medicine at the University of Regensburg in Germany, told Business Insider that the findings could be a useful starting point for research into new colorectal cancer prevention strategies.

However, he emphasized that in terms of public health, people should be encouraged to be active at all hours of the day.

Sam Orange, a senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, who studies the effect of exercise on the prevention of colorectal cancer and was not involved in the study, told BI that the findings could help provide a more accurate and clear picture of what is defined for cancer prevention. physical activity rules.

Leitzmann and his team analyzed the physical activity habits of 86,252 participants aged 42 to 79 who shared their health and lifestyle information with the UK Biobank biomedical database. They were asked to track their activities as follows: attaching device known as accelerometers on their wrists.

Five years later, 529 of the participants were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer.

People who were active in the morning and evening had an 11% lower risk of developing bowel cancer.

Researchers have identified four common activity patterns: sustained activity throughout the day, activity late in the day, activity in the morning and evening, and activity at noon and night.

The primary finding was that two activity peaks, one around 8 a.m. and the other around 6 p.m., were associated with: lower risk of colorectal cancer “beyond the benefits of general physical activity,” the authors said.

Daytime activity was associated with a 6% lower risk, and midday and nighttime activity did not appear to affect participants’ risk. Data obtained only from those active later in the day were inconclusive.

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More research is needed to confirm whether the time we exercise affects our risk of colorectal cancer, but Leitzmann suspects this is because beneficial biological processes are activated twice a day rather than once.

In a study published in The Guardian in 2022, Orange’s research group found: International Journal of Cancer It’s thought that each exercise releases cancer-fighting molecules into the bloodstream, which helps reduce tumor growth. They used colon cancer cells and blood samples from 16 men over the age of 50 who were at higher risk of colon cancer due to lifestyle choices.

“Therefore, being active twice a day instead of once may provide additional benefits by allowing more cancer-fighting molecules to be released into the bloodstream,” he said.

More people under 55 get colon cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in U.S. men and the fourth leading cause of cancer in U.S. women, according to the American Cancer Society. It is expected to cause approximately 53,010 deaths this year.

The rate of people diagnosed with the condition has fallen since the mid-1980s, but rates in people under 55 have increased by 1% to 2% per year since the mid-1990s, the association said.

Experts still don’t know what’s behind this increase, but there are many potential explanations. ultra processed foodsMicroplastics and obesity are being studied.

D., a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center on Long Island. Michael Shusterman previously told BI that he often advises his patients to quit smoking; reduce alcohol; exercise at moderate intensity; eat more fiber and less red meat; and avoid ultra-processed foods as much as possible to prevent colorectal cancer.

“Every movement is important for reducing the risk of colorectal cancer, which means doing any amount of physical activity is better than no,” Orange said.