| Can exercise help men avoid prostate trouble? It's | | | | exercise alone was responsible for the benefits |
| a hotly debated question in research circles, now | | | | we observed because participants who exercised |
| some new work adds to the ongoing debate | | | | might also have engaged in other behaviors linked |
| about the role being active may play in terms of | | | | to better health, like adhering to good diet. That |
| prostate cancer risk. U.S. researchers at Duke | | | | means we can not clearly identify a causal |
| University Medical Center examined 190 male | | | | relationship." |
| subjects who were having prostate biopsies at | | | | Prostate cancer is one of the most common |
| the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. | | | | cancers in men, affecting one in six American |
| Before the procedure, subjects completed | | | | males, though the disease is rare in a man under |
| questionnaires on their physical activity. Levels of | | | | 40 years old. The cause remains unknown, but |
| physical activity were assessed based on answers | | | | thanks to PSA testing, the vast majority of these |
| to questions on frequency, duration and intensity | | | | cancers are found before any symptoms appear. |
| of exercise in a typical week. Activity was | | | | While it can be scary to face a life-threatening |
| designated as mild (easy walking, yoga), moderate | | | | disease, today's diagnostic tests make it possible |
| (brisk walking, tennis) or strenuous (running, | | | | for your doctor to find something early on, when |
| swimming). | | | | cancers are most beatable. And though there is |
| A full 58% of the subjects in the study were | | | | no "one size fits all" treatment for prostate |
| considered sedentary, exercising less than the | | | | cancer, you doctor can explain the options |
| American Heart Association recommendations of | | | | (medications, radiation therapy, surgery or simple |
| one hour a week. Another 46% were moderately | | | | monitoring) best for you based on the stage of |
| active, leaving just 33% considered very active. | | | | your disease and your own unique situation. |
| After making adjustments for age, race, weight, | | | | If you're worried about prostate trouble, either |
| PSA score, family history of disease and other | | | | now or later in life, making exercise part of your |
| variables, the team found that men who | | | | daily routine can certainly do no harm, and may |
| exercised more each week were far less likely to | | | | well end up proving itself quite helpful. |
| have cancer on biopsy. "As the amount of | | | | Before you start that workout plan, talk with |
| exercise increased, the risk of cancer decreased," | | | | your doctor to be sure exercise is okay for you - |
| explains study lead author Dr. Jodi Antonelli, a | | | | especially if you've been inactive for years. Once |
| urology resident at Duke University Medical | | | | you get the go-ahead, start slow and build over |
| Center. The results of the work were published | | | | time, and make an effort to get in a workout at |
| online in the Journal of Urology. | | | | least three times each and every week. |
| The good news is that even a small amount of | | | | Remember too that exercise, when done |
| exercise offered some reduced risk of prostate | | | | properly, should not leave you sore, stiff or |
| cancer. | | | | exhausted - if you are then you're overdoing it |
| Antonelli cautions, "This is a relatively small study - | | | | and more likely to hurt yourself and sabotage |
| and it is not a screening study - so it may not be | | | | your efforts of getting fit and avoiding prostate |
| appropriate to apply our results to a general | | | | trouble. |
| population. In addition, it is impossible to state that | | | | |