Increased Diabetes, Heart Disease Risk Seen in Lazy Childhood Cancer Survivors

by Rajashri on  October 05, 2009 at 8:46 PM Child Health News
  •   Print
  •   Share
  •   Comments
  •  Text 
Researchers have revealed that childhood cancer survivors leading sedentary lifestyles are at an increased risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.

Cancer treatments such as cranial radiation can damage the hypothalamus and pituitary; the result is an abnormal metabolism, which increases the risk of obesity and diabetes.

Moreover, chemotherapy with the drug anthracycline increases the risk of heart disease; and radiation to the body can cause blood vessels to become less pliant.

"Physical activity is a key step that survivors can take to reduce the health risk of these effects," said Dr Kiri Ness, of the Epidemiology and Cancer Control department at St. Jude.

During the study, the researchers analysed extensive data involving more than 20,000 childhood cancer survivors who received diagnoses between 1970 and 1986.

The researchers found that the cancer survivors showed significant deficits in physical activity compared to their siblings.

Survivors were less likely than their siblings to meet physical activity guidelines and more likely to report inactive lifestyles.

It was particularly striking that 23 percent of the survivors reported that they were completely inactive over the previous month, compared with 14 percent of their siblings," Ness said.

"For instance, if we know that patients with medulloblastoma who received cranial irradiation are at a high risk for having inactive lifestyles as adults, we might design a rehabilitation program they can undergo while they are still children to encourage physical activity as they age," the expert said.

Ness and her colleagues plan to investigate whether programs to encourage exercise in both children and adult childhood cancer survivors can help them avoid obesity, diabetes and other health problems.

Source-ANI
RAS

 Email Email   RSS Feeds RSS Feeds   Print this page Print   Save this page Save   Link Link   Syndicate Syndicate   Comments Comments   Bookmark and Share
 
Comment & Contribute
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions
  
If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
X
  • Health News Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
News Archive
Date :
Category :
Keyword :
Quiz on Heart
A quiz on heart to learn more about its functions.
  • News Quick Links
News Central Health Watch
Latest Health News Health In Focus
News Category (500+) Breaking Health News
Popular News Celebrating Life
Health News and Press Release Medindia - Exclusive
News Photo Gallery India Special
News Video Gallery Lifestyle and Wellness
News From Other Resources
Heart
Complete Medindia Resources
News Categories:  
Child Health Center

Child Health Related News

» Continuation Of Benefits Of Hypothermia Through Early Childhood For Infants » Fresh Insight on Rare Genetic Disorders That Impair Childhood Growth and Development
» Kids Exposed to Common Pollutant Naphthalene Face Chromosomal Damage Risk » Zinc Boosts Sick Babies Recovery
» New Guidelines to Treat Childhood Aggression » Finding By Stanford Study Suggests That Antioxidant Shows Promise as Treatment for Certain Features of Autism
» TV can Decrease Self-esteem in Children: Study » Toddlers' Exposure to Flame Retardants Influenced by Socioeconomics
Read More >>