Exercise can keep cancer patients healthier
May 22nd, 2010 - 2:36 pm ICT by IANSWashington, May 22 (IANS) Breast and prostate cancer patients who regularly exercise during and after cancer treatment report having a better quality of life and being less fatigued.
“Using exercise as an approach to cancer care has the potential to benefit patients both physically and psychologically, as well as mitigate treatment side effects,” says Eleanor M. Walker, who led the study.
“Plus, exercise is a great alternative to patients combating fatigue and nausea who are considering using supplements…,” said Walker, director of breast services in radiation oncology at Henry Ford Hospital.
To study how exercise impacts cancer patients, Walker and colleagues developed a unique program called ExCITE (Exercise and Cancer Integrative Therapies and Education). ExCITE works with patients who are receiving cancer treatment to create individualised exercise programmes.
Some patients come into one of Henry Ford’s fitness centres to workout, while others have plans that allow them to exercise at home during various stages of their care.
The study group thus far includes 30 female breast cancer patients and 20 prostate cancer patients, ranging in age from 35 to 80.
All were newly diagnosed when they began ExCITE. The study followed the patients during treatment and for one-year following completion of cancer treatment.
Before beginning the exercise programme, Henry Ford’s Preventative Cardiology Division measured the patients’ exercise capacity, skeletal muscle strength and endurance.
General blood work, metabolic screens, bone density and inflammatory biomarkers also were obtained at the start of the programme.
Cheryl Fallen of Gross Pointe Park, Michigan, was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer while she took part in the ExCITE programme, says a release of Henry Ford Hospital.
Through a mix of exercise, acupuncture and good nutrition, she didn’t experience some of the more common side-effects from treatment — nausea, fatigue and trouble with memory.
Study of the ExCITE programme is ongoing, with Walker and colleagues continuing to investigate the potential benefits of exercise for cancer patients.
- Exercise benefits cancer patients - May 21, 2010
- Acupuncture perks up sex drive of breast cancer patients - Dec 30, 2009
- Acupuncture boosts libido, decreases hot flashes in breast cancer patients - Dec 30, 2009
- Exercise can cut risk of cancer returning - Aug 08, 2011
- Exercise helps cancer survivors keep ailment at bay - Aug 08, 2011
- Acupuncture as good as drug therapy to reduce breast cancer treatment side effects - Sep 23, 2008
- 'Simulated' needles as effective as real acupuncture - Mar 25, 2011
- Acupuncture - simulated or real - reduces nausea - Mar 25, 2011
- Acupuncture eases side effects and symptoms of some cancers - Sep 06, 2010
- Supervised exercise lessens fatigue in cancer patients undergoing chemo - Oct 14, 2009
- Robot-assisted surgery to remove cancerous prostate glands is safe - Mar 24, 2011
- Hormone therapy 'doubles survival chances in men with prostate cancer' - Mar 25, 2011
- This jab could revolutionise cancer treatment - Apr 15, 2011
- Oregano can help protect against prostate cancer - Apr 25, 2012
- Exercise improves survival in prostate cancer patients - Feb 02, 2012
Tags: bone density, breast cancer, breast cancer patients, cancer care, cancer treatment, cardiology division, exercise programme, female breast cancer, fitness centres, good nutrition, gross pointe, henry ford, henry ford hospital, integrative therapies, m walker, muscle strength and endurance, park michigan, prostate cancer, prostate cancer patients, radiation oncology