CELEBRITY STYLE SPY: See all the latest celeb photos

Exercise plus sleep fights cancer

Print
Share
Comment

Marie Claire Health: Woman sleeping

Regular exercise can reduce your risk of developing cancer, but this is only when combined with a good night's sleep.

A 10-year study of nearly 6,000 women found those who exercised regularly developed 'significantly fewer' cancers, including breast cancer.

But getting less than seven hours sleep appeared to undo the protective effects of a work out – and could even increase the risk of developing the disease.

Researchers from the US National Cancer Institute examined how often the women took exercise and compared it with their chances of developing cancer.

During the study, 604 cases of cancer, including 186 cases of breast cancer, were diagnosed in the women.

Those in the most active half were 20 per cent less likely to develop any form of cancer.

But when the research was limited to the under-65s, the results showed sleeping for less than seven hours a night could cancel out the protective effects of exercise.

Those women were 47 per cent more likely to develop cancer.

Dr James McClain, who led the study, said the findings suggest that sleep duration modifies the relationship between physical activity and cancer risk'.

Experts are still unclear exactly how sleep and exercise affects cancer risk, but it could be due to a number of factors including body weight, hormone levels and your immune system.