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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Recent Research on Exercise and Cancer

Nausea, pain, fatigue...these are just a few of the results of undergoing chemotherapy. Those symptoms make it difficult to want to exercise, even if it is good for the patient. Also, when the treatment is over, patients usually do not know what, if any, exercise they should be doing.

One recent study shown introducing aerobic training, as simple as a basic walking program, one week prior to and continuing through eight weeks of chemotherapy improved five out of seven functional measures and decreased fatigue during and after performing activities of daily living.

Another recent study prescribed exercise programs (thirty minutes of ergometer daily, in an interval pattern) to hospitalized chemotherapy patients and compared the results to a control group. The exercise group showed reduced fatigue and had fewer complaints about pain than the control group. They also decreased their psychological stress over the course of the hospital stay.

Resistance exercise is also important for cancer patients. A 2007 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology followed three groups throughout their chemotherapy: aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and control. Those engaging in aerobic exercise improved their self-esteem, aerobic fitness, and percent body fat. The resistance exercise group showed improvements in self-esteem, muscular strength, lean body mass, and chemotherapy completion rate. Both groups showed increased quality of life scores and decreased fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

Exercise is also important after the cancer has gone into remission. A 2005 study followed nearly three hundred women who had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer. Survivors who engaged in more than nine MET hours per week (three hours of walking 2-2.9 mph) reduced their risk of mortality by six percent. The greatest benefits from exercise while in remission occurred in women who performed the equivalent of walking three to five hours per week at an average pace (2-2.9 mph). There was no evidence of correlation between greater energy expenditure and increased benefit. The exercise benefits especially helped women who had had hormone-responsive tumors.

In another study, twenty-seven breast cancer survivors were placed on an eight-week full-body resistance and aerobic training program. The sum of their skinfolds, waist girth, and hip girth were significantly reduced posttraining. Their body weight did not change, but that was most likely due to an increase in lean tissue mass. Improvements were also made in upper body strength and endurance, lower body strength and endurance, VO2max, trunk flexibility, and flexibility of both the surgical and non-surgical shoulder joints (in lymphadenectomy patients). Both psychological and overall quality of life also improved.

This recent research shows that exercise is both safe and beneficial for those undergoing cancer treatments, and for those who have been through treatment in the past. In patients undergoing chemotherapy, exercise can reduce fatigue, improve function, increase fitness, and improve psychological stress. Breast cancer survivors can safely engage in full-body exercise, and physical activity after breast cancer reduces risk of death from the disease.

References:

"Effects of Aerobic and Resistance Exercise in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial." Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2007.

"Effects of Aerobic Training Prior to and During Chemotherapy in a Breast Cancer Patient: A Case Study." The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research," 2006.

"Effects of Physical Activity on the Fatigue and Psychologic Status of Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy." Cancer, 1999.

"Full Body Exercise Training Improves Fitness and Quality of Life in Survivors of Breast Cancer." The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2006.

"Physical Activity and Survival After Breast Cancer Diagnosis." Journal of the American Medical Association, 2005.

Dr. Heller is a chiropractor and certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), practicing in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. She has extensive experience teaching fitness classes, including aquatics, to all age groups and abilities. http://www.healthritellc.com http://www.unlockingthehealingcode.com