Department of Surgery
“Really, every minute of activity can be beneficial,” says Salerno. It’s likely not the first heart-themed celebration that comes to mind in February – that of course goes to Valentine’s Day – but American Heart Month certainly deserves just as much attention as its more popular counterpart. While we’ve made a lot of progress in […]
As wonderful as summertime can be, there’s also something really nice about the calendar – and the weather – turning toward fall. The light starts to soften a bit, and the crisp mornings and warm afternoons invite us to spend more time outside. Maybe that’s walking the kids home from school, cycling to the grocery store […]
August 4, 2022 It’s not what many kids want to hear right now, but the new school year is just around the corner. Even while the long days remain filled with summer activities, families are starting to make plans for the first day of school and the coming year. While it’s hard to know what might […]
As hard as it can feel at times, winter workouts can be pretty easy to fit in with a bit of planning. by Hank Dart Winter is a special time of year. It’s a season of festive holidays and long, cozy evenings spent with friends and family. Unfortunately, many of the same things that make […]
A new study further confirms the health benefits of lacing up your shoes and heading out for a walk. The study, published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, followed over 16,000 older women for an average of five years and compared recorded step counts with deaths that occurred in the group over that time. The researchers […]
A new study has found that a large majority of the public may be unaware that lack of physical activity can increase the risk of cancer. The study, out of Washington University in St. Louis and published Wednesday in the Journal of Health Communication, included a diverse sample of participants who were asked to list […]
It’s World Physical Activity Day – a great reminder that there really is nothing quite like regular activity when it comes to both individual and population health. Among other benefits, physical activity helps prevent many serious diseases – from stroke to diabetes to cancer – and also improves quality of life and boosts mental mood. […]
A new analysis published last week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that physical inactivity results in a significant economic burden the world over. Though the authors found that studies looking at the economic impact of inactivity lacked consistent methodology – which, therefore, limited specific conclusions – sedentary lifestyles were found to account […]
National Public Radio aired a really nice piece yesterday about a fitness program developed by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe of northern Idaho that focusses on traditional American Indian dance. With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program uses exercise classes and a series of fitness videos based on powwow dances to get tribal […]
by Hank Dart Even in the middle of the roiling media cycle we’re in, diet has still managed to break through and make headlines the past couple weeks. Probably the biggest recent story was the release of a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that around 40 – 50 percent […]
by Katy Henke When it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, let’s just say that Americans have a lot of room for improvement. That’s according to a recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings that found that only 2.7 percent of U.S. adults practice four key behaviors that can improve health and lower the risk […]
by Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH Obesity is an established cause of postmenopausal breast cancer, with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimating that approximately 10 percent of postmenopausal breast cancer is due to excess weight (1). Overweight and obesity also increase the risk of mortality after diagnosis. One large analysis combining data from […]
It’s day two in our nine day series highlighting key steps and practical tips that can help women lower their risk of breast cancer. Previous days. _ _ _ _ Day 2 – Be Physically Active Exercise is as close to a silver bullet for overall good health as there is, and those benefits […]
by Katy Henke In early September 2015, Vivek Murthy, MD, the Surgeon General of the United States, began a national campaign to increase the amount of physical activity Americans engage in each day (see video below). The campaign, called Step It Up!, works not only to get Americans walking more but also to help facilitate […]
Creative Commons photo (cropped): Flickr/hjl There is no magic bullet that will guarantee good health. That’s just an unfortunate fact of life. But there is something that can help stave off heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and depression, while also helping us maintain a higher quality of life as we get older. And it’s largely […]
Creative Commons photo: Flickr/CatDancing (cropped) We’ve written a lot recently about the importance of breast cancer prevention starting early in life, both here on Cancer News in Context and in a guest post on the American Association for Cancer Research blog, Cancer Research Catalyst. Though most breast cancer research focusses on women in midlife and […]
By Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH It is time to bring our focus back to lowering the risk or reducing the onset of new cases of breast cancer at all ages. Worldwide incidence of the disease is rising as societies across the globe modernize, which brings with it higher rates of breast cancer risk factors, […]
In Sunday’s New York Times, the editors ask prominent economists to weigh in on how to face the economic challenges ahead of us in 2012. Richard Thaler, of the University of Chicago, who wrote (with Cass Sunstein) Nudge, the best selling book on behavioral economics argues that employers have the opportunity to tackle one of […]
Following closely on the heels of the American College of Sports Medicine Exercise Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, MacMillan Cancer Support in the UK this week is launching a Move More campaign designed to get cancer survivors up and moving and debunk the notion that rest is best for cancer survivors during and after treatment. As […]
In a detailed review of evidence from 20 studies one of us, Kathleen Wolin, reports that higher levels of physical activity protect against colon cancer (see study) and now the precursor lesions, colon polyps (see study) . The evidence is consistent across study design, approaches to assessment of physical activity, and the populations studied. Key […]
It’s no real surprise. Not only are most of us not getting enough exercise to meet health guidelines, a large chunk of us aren’t getting any physical activity at all. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 25 percent of adults spend none of their free time exercising or […]
A new report released by Statistics Canada yesterday shows that the level of physical activity in the Canadian population is far lower than previously estimated (see report). While Canada has used self-report to monitor the level of activity in the adult population and seen high levels of reported physical activity – in the new report […]
If you needed another reason to lace up your sneakers and keep your New Years’ resolution to be active, this week offered 2: 1) Our team published, in collaboration with colleagues at the American Cancer Society, research on the role of physical activity in colon cancer and colon cancer mortality. There is a strong and […]
A study out this month in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention reviewed the literature on sedentary behavior and cancer. Ten of the 18 studies included in the review found a significant positive association between sedentary behavior and cancer risk – specifically cancers of the colorectum, endometrium, ovaries and prostate. Sedentary behavior isn’t just […]
Breast cancer prevention means taking action now. We talked about awareness earlier this week and have discussed drug strategies to reduce risk of breast cancer in high risk or postmenopausal women. But for every woman there are things to do now to lower risk. be active – increase your level of physical activity maintain a […]
This week marks one of my favorite times of the year – the US Open. The New York Times had a couple of articles this week that got me thinking about how competition can fuel (or harm) health. The first was a great photojournalism article in the Sunday Magazine about how much harder the women […]
While lifestyle contributes substantially more to risk of cancer (and other chronic diseases) than genetics alone, the interplay between genetics and lifestyle is a subject of increasing interest. That’s what makes a new study out of the UK, published in PLoS Medicine so exciting. The researchers took 12 genetic mutations that had previously been found […]
Results from an exciting new analysis were released today and highlight the important advances that are being made in understanding how energy expenditure relates to cancer. The results, from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study show that individuals who report more time spent sitting (6 hours/day or more) have a higher risk of mortality […]