He doesn't stop smiling. And if, suddenly he lacks reasons to do so, Sara Andrés finds them. "Is it very cold? Yes! I love this feeling of freshness on my face. It makes me feel very good and it is great for me to train," he replies without hesitation. She embodies the desired resilience that everyone talks about, that ability to see the half-filled bottle that everyone proclaims in the easy window of social networks but only a few treasure when real life hits them hard.
Just arrived from the Adapted Athletics World Championship held at the beginning of the month in Dubai, in which he broke the world record in 100 smooth meters of his category, the athlete acted as a godmother in the presentation of the book 'Cancer and Sport', a manual informative edited by the Sanitas Foundation and the Marqués de Samaranch Olympic Chair of the Camilo José Cela University in Madrid. "I have practically managed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. I am like crazy happy!", He had before starting an act in which he shook the audience with a story of extraordinary personal improvement.
"I lost my mother in adolescence because of lung cancer. I was at her side, accompanying her in the fight until she left. Neither she nor anyone deserves anything like that, but it happened, " he recalled at the beginning of his speech.
In 2011, when he was 25, they had to amputate both feet as a result of an accident. "After a period of mourning, the wonderful group of psychologists who assisted me helped me to accept my new situation. They taught me that I should be happy with what I could do, not with what I could no longer do and use my sense of humor as I didn't have feet? Well, I didn't run cold anymore, and I didn't have to cut my nails anymore!
OVERCOMING
Sara also learned to walk with the prostheses . "Sometimes, they caused sores and wounds but I didn't give up. Besides, since I'm very flirtatious, I insisted on walking 'in style'." He soon realized that he was missing something very important in his life until that moment. "Before the accident, I played a lot of sports and I was terribly sorry for the physical and mental sensations generated by physical activity ." So, despite the pain, he started jogging, then running and, almost without realizing it, "I was already competing."
"Will you wonder what all this has to do with the book presented today? Now you will understand. One day, while training, a few drops of sweat fell on my neck and, when I went to clean them, I realized that I had a lump . I told the physio and he told me to go to the doctor immediately. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer . "Nothing happens. It can be operated and I will be cured, I thought." And so it was. "
Recovered and back to training, a vasocellular tumor was detected in 2017. "I was removed and, from that moment, I love to wear this skin so white and spend the summer sheltered from the sun."
He didn't stop playing sports. "I continued with my active lifestyle, not only because it made me feel good physically but because it helped me not to think about cancer. I am convinced that setting sports goals and not focusing on my problem helped me recover faster ."
Pilates, yoga, dancing or just walking, the athlete recommends that cancer patients move. "You don't need to run, just look for the physical activity you like best ."
However dramatic the situation may seem, Sara Andrés is convinced that "you can always learn something." What is clear is that we all have much to learn from it.
Aren't you going to do something that can help you prevent cancer?
Drop down
If you are still not clear about the extraordinary value of sport as a guarantor of health, Margarita Feyjoo, head of the Oncology Service of the Sanitas La Moraleja University Hospital, clear your doubts:
"It is estimated that 35% of the European adult population is physically inactive and, however, the World Health Organization (WHO) has specified that approximately 35% of cancer-related deaths are due to modifiable factors, being the lack of physical activity one of them.
According to your criteria, at least one third of all cancer cases can be prevented . In fact, prevention is the most cost-effective long-term strategy for cancer control. But is there really a relationship between sport or physical activity and cancer?
Several studies indicate that routine physical activity is associated with a reduction in the incidence of some tumors such as colon, breast, lung and endometrial cancer.
In this line, there are data that suggest that physical activity may have a protective role against some tumors such as lung, pancreas, ovary, prostate, kidney and stomach, but the evidence is modest and not consistent. On the contrary, the evidence that physical exercise can protect against colon, breast and endometrial cancer is quite robust.
With all this information on the table, there is enough evidence to recommend sports or physical activity to prevent cancer.
In the IV edition of the 'European Code against Cancer', an initiative of the European Commission to inform citizens about what they can do for themselves or their family to reduce the risk of suffering from this disease, 12 recommendations are proposed that almost all The world can continue without special knowledge or help. The number 4 refers to physical activity, recommending daily exercise.
What is the mechanism of action by which physical exercise helps prevent cancer? It seems that physical activity acts on blood glucose levels, insulin, related hormones and sex hormones, on inflammation and on the immune system, all factors that influence the risk of cancer. Although it seems that much of these effects are more in relation to the reduction of body fat and decreased overweight that is achieved with physical exercise than with the sport itself. Even so, there may be beneficial effects of exercise independently of the decrease in body fat.
To conclude, it is important to know both the recommendations of the WHO and those of the American Cancer Society regarding physical activity. Both advise perform a minimum of 150 minutes per week of physical activity aerobic, moderate intensity, or 75 minutes vigorous aerobic exercise each week, or a combination equivalent of moderate and vigorous activities.
The WHO specifies that aerobic activity will be practiced in sessions of at least 10 minutes. In order to obtain even greater health benefits, it is suggested to increase up to 300 minutes per week the practice of moderate aerobic physical activity, or up to 150 minutes per week of intense aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous activity. It is also recommended to carry out strengthening activities of large muscle groups twice or more per week.
Therefore, we can affirm that physical activity plays a role in cancer prevention , both by itself and by its action on body fat and overweight. Even so, more studies are needed to establish clearer guidelines for each type of tumor and type of physical activity or intensity. "
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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