Keys to Lasting Fitness

Other research, published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, suggests that exercise may improve survival rates among people with chronic kidney disease. Patients who got the recommended amount of weekly physical activity after their diagnosis were up to 56% less likely to die during seven years of follow-up than those who did not exercise at all. And patients who exercised less than the recommended amount but were still active were 42% less likely to die during follow-up than the non-exercisers.

Fitness may also have an effect on prostate cancer. A study in the Journal of Urology by researchers at Duke Prostate Center found that among men undergoing prostate biopsy, those who got the equivalent of three or more hours of brisk walking every week had a 66% lower risk of the disease than their inactive peers. Furthermore, among men who had malignant biopsy results, those who walked at least an hour a week were less likely to have an aggressive or fast-growing form of the cancer.