A surprising benefit of HIIT
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the standard approaches to slow the growth of colon cancer – but high intensity exercise can have the same positive effect – a new study has found.
Even a short session of high intensity interval training (HIIT) can induce changes in blood cells that slow the growth of colon cancer cells or even kill them off completely.
These positive effects were seen after just one exercise session, although the colon cancer patients went on to complete 12 HIIT sessions over a month.
Even after the first session, blood samples showed an increase in markers of inflammation, and when cancer cells in the lab wehre exposed to these samples they started dying, researchers at the University of Queensland have discovered.
Although earlier studies have shown that intesntive exercise can dlow the growth of cancer cells, the researchers were surprised to see it was also reducing the number of cancer cells, suggesting they were beign killed off.
Reference
James L. Devin, Michelle M. Hill, Marina Mourtzakis, Joe Quadrilatero, David G. Jenkins, Tina L. Skinner. Acute high intensity interval exercise reduces colon cancer cell growth. The Journal of Physiology, 2019
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So massage is safe for pregnant women, but is it effective?
Last week we established that massage is safe for pregnant women. A scientific review of studies of pregnancy in massage fond that pregnant women who received massage had
- decreased depression
- decreased anxiety
- decreased leg and back pain
- reduced cortisol levels
- reduced excessive fetal activity
- lower rate of prematurity (a baby being born before its 37 weeks old)
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