This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Exercise, Health, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
According to reports in several newspapers in the UK this weekend, research carried out by the University of Athens suggests there may be a link between inactive desk jobs and prostate cancer. Details of this were published on 4th July 2008 in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention.
The university compared a group of 320 men with prostate cancer with a similar group who did not have the disease. They discovered that those men whose jobs involved sitting for most of their working day were 30 per cent more likely to develop this particular cancer.
Dr Areti Lagiou, who led the research, stated that in 1997 physical activity was not even listed as a possible protective factor against prostate cancer. But he said that during the last decade there has been evidence that it may give protection.
Exercise helps prevent other cancers too…
The importance of exercise in the prevention of cancer has been stressed by Cancer Research UK. They warn: “Not moving around enough increases your risk of colon and breast cancer” but encouragingly they add: “being very active can probably halve your risk of colon cancer.”
From these brief extracts you can see how vital regular movement and exercise is; not just for our general wellbeing, but to protect us from more serious illnesses.
So get moving
So if your job involves sitting at a desk for long periods, try to have regular breaks and get moving. Don’t just send an email or ‘phone a colleague – get up and go and see them face to face. You never know where this might lead: a new relationship or a promotion. And remember to take regular exercise out of work – here are a couple of my posts that will help get you started:
- How do I choose which gym I use?
- How much rest should you have in training?
- Stretch or warm up, which comes first?
Sources and further reading:
- Article by Kate Devlin in the Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2246979/Prostate-cancer-risk-higher-for-desk-workers.html
- Also: www.eurjcancerprev.com
- and: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/exerciseandactivity/
