Latest news with #researchstudy
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Experts pinpoint number of daily steps that can prevent 13 types of cancer - forget 10,000
Reaching the golden number of 10,000 steps a day has long been lauded as one of the best ways to keep us in peak physical and mental health. But according to new research, 7,000 is all you need to lower your chances of developing up to 13 different types of cancer. At this many steps, the risk of developing cancer drops by 11 per cent, according to the study from the University of Oxford. At 9,000 steps, the risk drops by 16 per cent, but experts saw no increased benefit for extra steps beyond this. The large study involving over 85,000 people in the UK saw participants wear activity trackers for a week that measured both the amount and intensity of their daily movement. Researchers followed up with participants six years later and found walking between 5,000 to 9,000 steps indicated a lower cancer risk, regardless of how fast those steps were taken. The researchers looked at the cancers oesophageal, liver, lung, kidney, gastric, endometrial, myeloid leukaemia, myeloma, bowel, head and neck, rectal, bladder and breast—which have previously associated with low physical activity. Over the six year follow-up period, only three per cent of participants developed one of these cancers. The most common were bowel and lung cancers in men, and breast, bowel, endometrial, and lung cancers in women, according to the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Replacing sitting time with either light or moderate activity lowered cancer risk, but swapping light activity for moderate activity didn't appear to offer additional benefits. According to the Institute of Cancer Research, light exercise can help to control levels of the hormone insulin, which help the body convert food into energy. Fluctuating levels of the hormone have been linked to cancer development and progression. Walking has also been found to help the body fight off infections that could go on to cause cancer, and contribute towards maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight and obese is the second biggest cause of cancer, according to Cancer Research UK. The charity claims that extra fat sends out signals to the rest of the body, which can tell cells in our body to divide more often. When cells divide too rapidly they can form a cancerous tumour. Writing about the new research in The Conversation, Mhairi Morris, biochemist and lecturer at Loughborough University, said the 7,000 daily steps don't have to be completed all at once. You can break it up throughout the day by swapping the lift for the stairs, having a stroll at lunchtime, walking during phone calls or parking a bit further away from your destination, Ms Morris explained. More than 400,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK, while 167,000 die from the fatal disease. Doctors have recently sounded the alarm over the escalating cancer epidemic among young adults. It comes as 80,000 people under 40 are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year. One of the fastest growing cancers in this age group is bowel cancer. According to the latest data, early-onset diagnoses are expected to rise by 90 percent in people 20 to 34 years old from 2010 to 2030.
National Post
07-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
That mystery brain disease plaguing people in New Brunswick? A new study finds it's not real
Article content 'Complex neurological disorders benefit from a second, independent and/or subspecialist evaluation and require multidisciplinary support throughout the diagnostic journey,' said the study that collected data between November 2023 and this past March. Article content 'Clinical and neuropathological evaluations demonstrated that all 25 cases were attributable to well characterized neurological disorders,' it said. 'The final primary diagnoses, and in some cases secondary diagnoses, included Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, other neurodegenerative conditions, functional neurological disorder, traumatic brain injury or persisting post concussion symptoms, and others.' Article content The independent assessment of 25 patients 'provides no support for an undiagnosed mystery disease in New Brunswick,' said the study. Article content 'The gold standard, neuropathological assessments with second, blinded independent evaluations, revealed well-defined diagnoses for 11 deceased patients.' Article content When all 25 cases were included in the mix, '100 per cent of patients in this sample did not have a new disease and with 95 per cent confidence, the probability of no new disease is between 87 per cent and 100 per cent,' said the study. Article content 'The lower bound of 87 per cent reflects a conservative estimate based on the data and statistical methods accounting for uncertainty in the sample, including the possibility of diagnostic error or unmeasured variability. However, practical knowledge and clinical reasoning suggest that the actual probability of no new disease is much closer to the upper bound of 100 per cent.' Article content The new study said 'it is crucial to highlight the factors that fuel persistent public concern of a mystery disease despite the provincial investigation rejecting this possibility. Public trust in health institutions has decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic, while trust in individual healthcare professionals remains high, which can make vulnerable people susceptible to claims that the institutional oversight processes are flawed, especially if originating from trusted physicians.' Article content The new research comes with a caution. Article content Misinformation regarding the New Brunswick 'cluster has proliferated in both traditional and social media, from not only the predictable and easily identifiable groups coopting the crisis to suit their agenda, such as antivaccine advocates, but also those who are unknowingly amplifying an incorrect diagnosis from their physician,' said the study. Article content 'In this way, misdiagnosis and misinformation become inextricably entwined and amplify patient harm exponentially: to the best of our knowledge, only 14 patients sought independent reevaluation by another neurologist when offered, and 52 refused a second opinion, choosing instead to remain with the one neurologist who originally made and continues to promote the diagnosis of a mystery disease. Not only do our data indicate that affected patients likely have other diagnosable neurological conditions that could benefit from multidisciplinary treatment and other resources, but the low uptake also impedes the rigorous scientific evaluations necessary to counter the claims raised in the first place.' Article content
