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Exercise for Immunityby: Dr. Donald A. Miller Recent publications and news items show that moderate exercise works with good diet to enhance immune systems. It does not take much. Just walking a few miles per week can help prevent cancers in various parts of the body, as an example. I'm not a body builder, although I respect people who are. My ideal is to keep a slender, wiry body, such as a runner or swimmer. Typically I spend only 15 to 45 minutes per day, which is nothing compared to an Arnold Schwarzenegger work out. Here's my basic routine. After breakfast and before my shower, at least 20 to 30 pushups, then 20 to 30 knee curls. For the curls, I lie on my back and draw my knees to almost touch my chest. After my shower, long enough for my arms to recover a bit, I do at least 15 to 20 chinups from an in-door-way bar. Thus, I have stimulated my arm and chest muscles, abdomen, and lower back. If I have any lower back aches, which can happen from too much sitting, I tilt my pelvis back and forth, either while still on my back or standing, 10 to 30 times. By the way, this stretcher can be done nearly any where, if one does not make the moves very obvious. Depending on my mood, available time, and weather, I do one of the following. #1. As a break from any work, I take at least a 30 minute brisk walk, which covers about 1.8 to 2 miles in my neighbor-hood. While walking, I occasionally rotate my wrists, or wiggle them in all directions, to head off repetitive stress syndrome. I also ease my shoulders by moving them up / down and front / back, or stretching my arms out and rotating them. #2. If weather or darkness discourage an outdoors walk, and no shopping center is handy, I ride my Schwinn[tm] air-dyne bicycle which pits both my arms and legs against resistance from a paddle wheel. This is the only expensive exercise equipment I own, and can be found used on the web. Five minutes with the meter above half scale is a workout. Or I could use a lower challenge but for longer time. If I have the time, and need to burn off calories or tension, I have a whole range of low cost choices, from mild office stretches to aggressive army calisthenics. For details, see my "Easy Exercise All Ages". Just a few of the conditions resisted by exercise are: angina, arthritis, breast cancer, colon cancer, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, depression, gallstone disease, heart attack, high blood cholesterol, high blood triglyceride, hypertension, lessened cognitive function (e.g., Alzheimer's disease), low blood HDL, lower quality of life, obesity, osteoporosis, pancreatic cancer, peripheral vascular disease, physical frailty, premature mortality, prostate cancer, sleep apnea, stiff joints, stroke, type 2 diabetes, spinal injury, weak bones, and more. All without drugs. What a pleasant surprise! Latest Cancer News:Taking Aim at Brain Cancer (Forbes) Smarter matching of drugs to patients is likely to improve on the lukewarm results seen so far with targeted cancer therapies. Hot dogs cast as villain in cancer group's ad (USA Today) A new TV commercial shows kids eating hot dogs in a school cafeteria and one little boy's haunting lament: "I was dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer." Stress may raise breast cancer risk in young women (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Young women who experience more than one stressful life event are at greater risk of developing breast cancer, but a general feeling of happiness and optimism may help guard against the disease, Israeli researchers report. Normal Cells May Predict Cancer Virulence (HealthDay via Yahoo! News) THURSDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Characteristics of normal cells which are present long before any tumor appears may determine how virulent a particular cancer is going to be, new research suggests. Cervical cancer advances give hope to poor (Reuters via Yahoo! News) New screening tests and effective vaccines from Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline make tackling cervical cancer in poor countries a real possibility for the first time, researchers said on Thursday. Correction: Hot Dogs-Cancer story (AP via Yahoo! News) In an Aug. 26 story about a new TV ad linking hot dogs with cancer, The Associated Press, relying on figures provided by a nutrition adviser to the American Institute for Cancer Research, erroneously reported average risks for colon cancer and how eating hot dogs affects those risks. Karen Collins said she misstated the average adult's lifetime risk for getting colorectal cancer, which is about ... Cancer spread 'happens earlier' (BBC News) Apparently "normal" cells may carry cancer to new sites long before a tumour develops, scientists say. Cervical Cancer Rate May Fall in Poor Nations With Tests, Shots (Bloomberg.com) Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- New screening methods and immunization shots are making it possible to control the number of cervical cancer cases in developing countries for the first time, researchers said in a Vaccine medical journal report. E! Standing Up To Cancer Too (Broadcasting and Cable) Entertainment network joins ABC, CBS and NBC in broadcasting 'Stand Up To Cancer' special. Mun2, E! Step Up to ?Stand Up to Cancer? (TV Week) Mun2 and E! Entertainment Television are joining other networks in airing the charity special ?Stand Up to Cancer? on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. ? Stand Up to Cancer ,? put together by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, will air live simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC and will feature appearances by several celebrities and performers in an effort to raise funds for cancer research. Correction: Hot Dogs-Cancer story - The Associated Press
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