Devlin Brown at the water cooler: Exercise can improve your chances of beating cancer

Is there really a point in exercising regularly just in pursuit of a so-called good body? Surely we’re all adults and life is about more than waist circumference?

Life is certainly about more than your waist circumference, though your waist circumference may tell a story about your risk of developing type-2 diabetes and heart disease.

People can, and do, use whatever motivation they want to train. There’s no one “body” that appeals to everyone: Are there curves in the right places, wrong places, no places or all places? It’s a race to the pits of narcissism and body dysmorphia.

I found out, in my 20s, that it takes two bodybuilders to change a light bulb. One to raise his arm and unscrew it and the other to notice how ripped his shoulders look at that angle. It’s not all fun and games, though. An obsession with aesthetics can also be very dangerous.

Young people, in their 20s and early 30s, who were so-called influencers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, have, over the years, died suddenly as a direct result of pushing the pharmaceutical and exercise envelope too far. Countless bodybuilders, both men and women, with “showroom physiques” have died prematurely from heart attacks or other organ failure. A cathedral on the outside with rotten, rusted pipes on the inside. There’s a difference between wellness and self-harm.

Perhaps you want to start exercising, or wish to set goals to move more, to lose some unwanted and unhealthy weight, and maybe you do want to feel better in your clothes. Assuming you do this in a healthy manner and don’t abuse your body, it is good for you. This column has espoused the virtues of exercise more times than we care to remember: improved health markers, mental health, longevity and much more.

That’s the beauty of seeing exercise as something more than a belt-size intervention. We only have one life and if we can do something to improve the odds of having a happier, healthier and longer one, why wouldn’t we? I learnt last week, which is some time after watching my own father struggle through chemotherapy, that exercise holds a positive correlation with better cancer outcomes, too. This is yet more evidence to support the activism of getting people to move, move, move. 

A new study conducted by Discovery Vitality in partnership with researchers from Wits University and the University of Western Ontario was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. It highlights the critical role of physical activity in cancer progression and survival. 

The study retrospectively analysed data from 28,248 individuals with stage 1 cancer, examining their levels of physical activity before diagnosis. It found that those who partook in moderate to high physical activity — the researchers categorised this as 60 or more minutes per week — compared to no activity in the year preceding the diagnosis of cancer were associated with a 27% lower risk of cancer progression and a 47% lower risk of death from any cause. 

Those who exercised less than 60 minutes a week compared to no activity in the year preceding the cancer diagnosis showed a 16% lower risk of cancer progression and a 33% lower risk of death from any cause.

The researchers found that five years after a cancer diagnosis, individuals who were physically active before their diagnosis had significantly lower rates of cancer progression compared to those who were inactive. Another study, published in Molecular Oncology in 2020 estimated that 30%-40% of all cancers could be prevented by addressing environmental factors, modifying lifestyle habits and adding exercise.

Discovery Vitality, in a release announcing the study, wrote: “For individuals, this serves as a powerful reminder of the health benefits that even modest levels of exercise can bring.” Whether it is cancer, diabetes or even heart disease, the evidence is overwhelming.

I would bet my last cent that if you stopped someone in the street today and asked them if they’d take a pill that would markedly improve their health, quality of life and longevity, they’d answer with a definitive “yes”.

Exercising regularly may be a bitter pill to swallow. But the Water Cooler recommends that you swallow it.