It's a sad fact that one in two people in the UK will go on to develop cancer during their lifetime.
This is why Dr Michael Mosley says it's important to do all we can to boost our chances against the disease.
The journalist and presenter says cancer is normally seen as affecting older age groups, but new research by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in America has identified a dramatic rise globally in cancers of the breast, colon, oesophagus, kidney, liver and pancreas in the under-50s.
“This trend began in 1990 and shows no sign of stopping", he penned for the Daily Mail.
“The researchers believe that sleep deprivation, increasingly sedentary lifestyles and a diet of ultra-processed foods, which in turn leads to obesity, are some of the reasons for this surge.”
Despite this frightening spike in cases, there’s still much we can do to improve our chances against the potentially fatal disease.
And that is simply to exercise.
Dr Mosley said: “The benefits of being more active were illustrated by a recent University of Bristol study, involving more than 131,000 women.
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“It showed that doing some form of vigorous activity three or more days a week was associated with a 38 per cent lower risk of developing breast cancer.
“Exercise protects by, among other things, reducing chronic inflammation and strengthening our immune system.”
Dr Mosley said that boosting your physical activity while curbing your sitting time could bring down your chances of developing cancer.
Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the study utilised the Mendelian randomisation approach - which uses genetic variants as proxies for a certain risk factor.
This research looked at lifelong sedentary behaviour and exercise levels in order to establish how it affected each person.
The researchers looked at more than 130,000 women of European ancestry, with 54,452 of them being free of breast cancer.
The team also considered the overall breast cancer risk of the women included.
The results showed that higher overall level of genetically predicted physical activity was associated with a 41 per cent lower risk, while genetically predicted vigorous physical activity on three or more days of the week was linked to a 38 per cent lower risk.
What actually is 'vigorous exercise'?
Vigorous activity includes the likes of jogging, running, race walking, swimming and tennis.
In a nutshell, vigorous exercise renders you incapable of saying more than a few words without pausing for a breath, explains the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers concluded their findings offer 'strong evidence' that more exercise and less time sitting around are likely to bring down the risk of breast cancer.
Also the American Cancer Society notes that exercise doesn’t just reduce the risk of breast cancer.
The health portal says: “Getting more physical activity is associated with a lower risk for several types of cancer, including breast, prostate, colon, endometrium, and possibly pancreatic cancer.
“Physical activity can help regulate some hormones that contribute to the development of cancer and help keep the immune system healthy.”
