Physical activity, cancer and cardiometabolic health

Prof David Stensel: Too much of a good thing – can excessive exercise really damage the heart?

The high-profile cardiac arrest (heart attack) suffered by the Danish professional footballer, Christian Eriksen, at Euro 2020 is the latest of several such incidents which have occurred in football (e.g., Fabrice Muamba in 2012) and other sports (e.g., marathon running and triathlon) in recent decades. Such events bring in to question the potential risks of strenuous exercise and the possibility that some types of exercise might damage the heart. This talk will examine the evidence linking strenuous exercise with risk of cardiac arrest and atrial fibrillation (a common heart rhythm disorder) to enable a better understanding of the balance between risks and benefits of exercise for heart health.

Dr Katherine Brooke-Wavell: Exercise and bone health – evidence informed best practice

Physical activity and exercise can reduce the risk of osteoporotic fracture by increasing bone strength and reducing fall risk. Unfortunately, concerns about fracture during movement often limit the activity of those diagnosed with osteoporosis, and this inactivity may reduce quality of life and further increase fracture risk.

A further challenge is that the optimal types of exercise for bone health differ from those for other health outcomes. This talk will give an overview of the types of physical activity and exercise that are effective on bone strength and fall risk.

Dr Natalie Pearson: Movement behaviours in young people – finding the balance

Being physically active from a young age has important immediate short- and long-term health implications, including lower levels of obesity and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. However, there is consistent data from across the world suggesting that children and adolescents are insufficiently active (i.e. do not meet recommended levels of physical activity), that girls are less active than boys and that physical activity declines with age. Increasing physical activity levels among young people has long been a target for public health practitioners and policy makers, with little success to date. Recent evidence calls for a move away from trying to increase physical activity towards finding a healthy balance between daily behaviours.

Given that time is finite, it is important that we understand that for young people to allocate extra time to being physically active that time must come from other activities within the day such as sitting time (sedentary) or sleep. Sitting time and sleep account for more than 90% of many young people’s 24-hour days and have independently been linked to health outcomes. Re-allocating time from these behaviours, rather than trying to solely increase physical activity could offer a more feasible approach to finding a healthy balance and instilling long term healthy habits in young people. This talk will outline some of the recent evidence on movement behaviours in young people and discuss the implications of considering the 24-hour context for movement behaviours.

Dr Mhairi Morris: Trying to outrun cancer: the benefits of exercise across the cancer continuum

It is becoming increasingly apparent that physical activity and exercise play a key role in reducing cancer risk and helping to improve patient outcomes yet defining precise exercise ‘prescriptions’ is challenging. This presentation will cover the importance of exercise throughout the cancer continuum: from prevention to reducing secondary risk, as well as the benefits of exercise as prehab for treatment.

There are numerous molecular and cellular events that govern this protective mechanism, but this presentation will focus on the impact of exercise on immune function in cancer patients, and the current recommendations for exercise in cancer survivors.