Patients Don't Know Exercise Cuts Colon Cancer Risk
Many experts now consider colon cancer a largely preventable disease,
but a new study finds that primary care doctors might not always inform
patients about one important step they can take to reduce their risk:
becoming more physically active.
When researchers analyzed survey data from 1,932 adults who answered
questions about colon cancer risks, only 15 percent listed physical
activity as a means of reducing their risk.
Yet a sedentary lifestyle accounts for as many as 14 percent of all
colon cancer cases in the United States. Highly active individuals have
a 30 percent to 40 percent lower risk of developing colon cancer,
according to the researchers.
Several factors contribute to the information gap, according to study
co-author Elliot Coups. "Patients may not be learning this information
from their health care providers and information regarding colon cancer
prevention is not as well publicized as it could be."
The study appears in the August issue of the journal Patient Education
and Counseling.
Doctors might find it easier to promote the general benefits of
exercise, without specifically mentioning colon cancer, even to a
patient who has a family history or has other risk factors, said Coups,
at the Division of Population Science at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in
Cheltenham, Pa.
"In the context of busy clinic visits, it is in some ways efficient for
patients to be reminded that physical activity is good for their health
in general," Coups added. "
Going through each specific health benefit of physical activity would
take considerable time."
Doctors might also need to offer more information about what it means to
be physically active, as patients could imagine it involves dramatic
lifestyle alterations, he said.
There is a strong benefit in going from completely sedentary to some
modest levels of activity, such as walking two to three hours a week or
gardening, said Edward Giovannucci, M.D., a professor at the Harvard
School of Public Health. “Sedentary people should first set such
moderate, achievable goals. More benefits could accrue from higher
levels and more intense exercise, such as jogging, running or tennis. To
some extent, more may be better, but it is important to note that a
little is much better than nothing."
Because studies might skew toward cultural norms and 40 percent of
Americans never engage in leisure time physical activity, inactivity
could be a factor in over 14 percent of the estimated 112,000 cases of
colon cancer diagnosed each year, Giovannucci said.
"While many people are vaguely aware that exercise is good, the idea
that exercise specifically prevents a large proportion of a common
cancer may make an impact on the patient," he said.
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