Cancer risk ''drops with good sleep''
18/11/2008
People looking to lead a healthy and prosperous life must balance exercise and sleep, as this has been found to reduce the risk of cancer.
According to a ten-year research project by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), those who were physically active showed significantly less amounts of people affected by cancer.
However, the study of nearly 6,000 people also revealed that those getting less than seven hours of sleep each night were nullifying the benefits of the active lifestyle, in turn increasing the risk of cancer.
Dr James McClain, who led the research for the NCI, said: "Current findings suggest that sleep duration modifies the relationship between physical activity and all-site cancer risk among young and middle-aged women."
He added that the next phase in the research was to establish how mechanisms relation to sleep and exercise can be manipulated to lower the chances of cancer.
Back in 2003, a study led by Stanford University found that sleep problems affected the balance of at least two types of hormone that influenced cancer cells.
