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Effects of Physical Activity & Regular Exercise in Cancer Patients.

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Functional, psychological, and emotional well-being is of utmost importance to cancer patients. Macmillan Cancer Support has published Move More, a report highlighting the benefits of exercise for enhancing quality of life (QOL) in cancer survivors. How exercise affects functional capacity, muscular strength, body composition, nausea, fatigue, personality functioning, mood states, self-esteem, and QOL are summarized in the report. Examples of exercise regimens for cancer patients include swimming, cycling, walking, and light activity sports. According to the report,regular exercise offers benefits to the physical, functional, psychological, emotional, and social well-being of cancer patients.

The researchshowed that particularly after treatment, patients with a consistent exercise regimen had higher survival rates. The physiological benefits of exercise are a reduction in side effects from chemotherapy drugs such as swelling, anxiety, depression, fatigue, impaired mobility, and changes in weight.

Research has shown that breast cancer patients who exercised for 150 minutes a week at moderate intensity have a more than 40% lower risk of recurrence compared with patients who are less active. Physical activity could prevent tumor development by lowering hormone levels –  insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) – and help with weight maintenance.

Moreover, some studies show that exercise results in a 20% to 40% risk reduction in endometrial cancer, possibly due to the effect of exercise on estrogen. Physical activity increases muscle mass, plasma volume, lung ventilation and perfusion, and cardiac reserve, leading to a reduction of fatigue.

Research studies by Winningham et al showed how a 10-week bicycle ergometer training program of 30 minutes, 3 times per week, reduced fatigue, mood disturbance, somatic complaints, total body weight, and body fat percentage in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Endurance exercise and resistance training could have a beneficial effect on the immune system, but more randomized studies are required to verify this.

References

  1. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1996). Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General.
  2. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008). Preventing Obesity and Chronic Diseases Through Good Nutrition and Physical Activity. http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/obesity.htm
  3. Slattery ML, Edwards S, Curtin K, et al. Physical activity and colorectal cancer. Am J Epidemiol. 2003;158(3):214-224.
  4. MacVicar MG, Winningham ML, Nickel JL. Effects of aerobic interval training on cancer patients' functional capacity.Nurs Res. 1989;38(6):348-351
  5. Pinto BM, Frierson GM, Rabin C, et al. Home-based physical activity intervention for breast cancer patients. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(15):3577-3587.
  6. Tardon A, Lee WJ, Delgado-Rodriguez M, et al. Leisure-time physical activity and lung cancer: A meta-analysis. Cancer Causes Control. 2005;16(4):389-397.
  7. Dimeo FC, Tilmann MH, Bertz H, et al. Aerobic exercise in the rehabilitation of cancer patients after high dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation. Cancer.1997;79(9):1717-1722.
  8. Holmes MD, Chen WY, Feskanich D, et al. Physical activity and survival after breast cancer diagnosis.JAMA. 2005;293(20):2479-2486.

For more information:

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has published  guidelines on physical activityfor people being treated or have completed treatment. ACSM’s website offers information about cancer exercise trainers.

The American Cancer Society recommends to discuss with their oncologists the role of exercise and includes a set of precautions.