Increased Physical Activity Equals Reduced Cancer Risk in Older Adults

A study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes suggests that even low levels of physical activity (PA) have a beneficial effect in the primary prevention of cancer in older adults, reports Hospital Healthcare Europe . The researchers recruited 1,542 participants, with an average age of 73, who were initially free of cancer and followed them for nine years on average. A total of 254 new cancers were observed over the nine-year follow-up, with leisure-time PA inversely related to cancer incidence, with adjusted hazard ratios of 0.66 and 0.59 for the insufficiently active and sufficiently active groups versus the inactive cohort. The implication is that even subjects designated not sufficiently active still had a reduced risk of cancer compared to those who were inactive. This finding emphasizes the value of PA as individuals age.