Sitting for an additional 2 hours a day increases lung cancer risk by 6%
General studies typically define sedentary time as sitting still for a total of 6 hours and more per day. The sedentary approach to entertainment, such as working, studying, and watching TV, actually makes it easy to reach this sedentary time during the day. There has been a growing body of research confirming that a sedentary lifestyle is associated with increased incidence of many cancers such as breast and colorectal cancer. One study that included more than 4 million people found that sitting for an additional 2 hours a day increased the risk of lung cancer by 6%.
Stop sitting! Prolonged sitting increases the risk of lung cancer death
Sitting can not only increase the risk of developing cancer, but there are also studies that have found that sitting can increase the risk of dying from cancer. The results of a large cohort study published recently in the Journal of the American Society for Oncology by researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center show that the longer you sit, the higher the risk of cancer mortality, as shown in Table 1. these studies show conclusively that not only does sitting lead to an increased risk of cancer, it also contributes to increased cancer mortality. These findings also hold true for patients with lung cancer.
Table 1: Sedentary time and increased risk of cancer death in oncology patients
| Sedentary time | Risk of cancer death |
| Subjects with the longest total sedentary time than those with the shortest sedentary time | 82% increase |
| Sedentary time ≥13 hours | 52% increase |
| Sedentary time between 11.8 hours and 13 hours | 45% increase |
| For every 1 hour increase in total sedentary time | Significant increase of 16% |
To live long, exercise often, it’s hard to stick with it, but the results are cool!
Exercise of various intensities can reduce the incidence of lung cancer by 10% to 18% in 1 year and the mortality rate of lung cancer patients by 20% to 32%.
Patients with lung cancer sometimes say they don’t have time to exercise or their physical condition doesn’t lend itself to exercise. In fact, consider getting up and moving around for 5 minutes every hour of rest, taking a walk, doing chest expansion exercises or gymnastics, which are not very demanding in terms of time and physical strength. Or cleverly apply fragmentation opportunities, such as taking one or two flights of stairs instead of all the elevator, standing up when talking on the phone, etc. These exercise times may sound small, but research tells us that even light activity can extend survival in cancer patients.
If you replace 30 minutes of sedentary activity with 30 minutes of low-intensity exercise such as walking (strolling, square dancing, tai chi, etc.), the risk of cancer death is reduced by 8%; changing to 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise (climbing stairs, ramp cycling, table tennis, jumping rope, etc.) reduces this risk by 31%. Big gains from small movements, why not?
Three exercises to help lung cancer patients recover
The key to postoperative care for lung cancer patients is how to effectively restore lung function, and appropriate amounts of exercise are helpful for lung function recovery. The patient’s body is relatively weak, so it is important to exercise according to the patient’s ability.
Walking
Walking is a relatively common form of aerobic exercise. Walking is suitable for lung cancer patients to do aerobic exercise. Lung cancer patients can ask their friends or family members to go for a walk together in a beautiful environment, which not only provides moderate whole-body exercise, but also contributes to a good mood in the process of communicating with others, and a good mood is very helpful to the recovery of cancer patients.
Jogging
Jogging can enhance respiratory function, which can increase lung capacity and improve ventilation and air exchange for lung cancer patients. At least 30 minutes of exercise should be performed daily. The elderly can also walk slowly if they are inconvenienced by their legs and feet, just extend the time appropriately. It is recommended to jog until the whole body sweats, and fast walking is also possible, and the exercise time can be chosen from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The best effect is to jog for one hour every day.
Yoga
Yoga emphasizes a series of soothing movements to strengthen the practitioner’s flexibility and relax the body and mind through breathing. One word of caution, though, avoid difficult movements and don’t push your body. Yoga can help people with breathing problems to stabilize themselves, slow down their breathing, concentrate on their breathing and breathe in and out slowly. This can ease the symptoms of dyspnea in lung cancer patients.