A daily walk for 25 minutes can help fight cancer

A BRISK daily walk could help cut cancer sufferers’ risk of dying from the disease – even those at an advanced stage, research suggests.

Just 25 minutes exercise a day, plus a healthy lifestyle, may reduce mortality rates by up to 42 per cent.

Two studies presented to a cancer conference showed that exercise is key but said eating whole grains and vegetables, drinking alcohol moderately and limiting the amount of processed and red meat were also factors.

For one study, 337 women newlydiagnosed with breast cancer who had undergone surgery to remove tumours were split into two groups.

For eight months, one group was told to follow an exercise programme of 180 minutes a week of moderateintensity exercise, while the other group received standard care.

In a second study, 992 people with stage-three bowel cancer were assessed for diet and lifestyle.

Researchers found those who kept to a healthy diet with a moderateintensity exercise level for 150 minutes per week had a 42 per cent lower risk of dying. The study was presented to the American Society for Clinical Oncology, in Chicago.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, of Breast Cancer Now, said: “Keeping active may also help patients to cope with their treatments.”

Erin van Blarigan, researcher at the University of California in the US, said: “Doctors absolutely, should counsel patients to exercise.”

Dr Vicky Coyle, of Cancer Research UK, added: “Patients with advanced bowel cancer could benefit from keeping a healthy weight, being physically active and eating a healthy diet.”

Runners are almost three times less likely to develop osteoarthritis but only if they don’t overdo it, say scientists. Research at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, in New York state, found that only 3.5 per cent of recreational runners developed the condition. But this rises to 13.3 per cent for those who run competitively.