INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Researchers credit regular exercise with preventing a number of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, dementia, depression, anxiety and even cancer. Being physically fit can also make the cancer battle and recovery a little easier. Ivanhoe has more on the exercise prescription for cancer.
Seventy-five-year-old Linda C. Johnson admits she doesn’t love to exercise. But she started working out 17 years ago to keep up with her grandkids. According to her doctors, Johnson’s years of fitness helped her bounce back in 2018 from lung cancer treatment.
“All of them told me that because of my physical condition that I was going to tolerate the surgery so much better, and that if I resumed my exercise, that my recovery would be so much better,” shared Johnson.
“She was practicing preventative care and taking really good care of herself,” said NiCole Keith, PhD, FACSM, a research scientist at Regenstrief Institute in Indiana.
Keith has been her mother’s fitness partner, trainer, and cheerleader. Who better than this nationally recognized research scientist and current president of the American College of Sports Medicine, or ACSM? For patients fighting and recovering from cancer, the ACSM has issued specific guidelines from exercise oncology experts. To improve cancer fatigue? Thirty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise and two sets of resistance training twice a week. To relieve anxiety and depression, experts prescribe 20 to 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise, think fast walking or jogging. Plus, two sets of resistance exercise. Johnson finished her chemotherapy in May 2019 and started working out again in July.
“I was walking four or five miles within six weeks,” smiled Johnson.
The prescription for cancer prevention? Research suggests that a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week can help prevent seven common cancers including bladder, breast, colon, endometrial, esophageal, kidney and stomach cancers. The American College of Sports Medicine has more information on their webpage: www.acsm.org.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor; and Kirk Manson, Videographer.
EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION FOR CANCER!
REPORT #2827
BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity is one of the most important things for good health, and everyone can experience benefits of physical activity no matter age, abilities, ethnicity, shape, or size. Some benefits of physical activity happen right after a session of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. Benefits like improved thinking or cognition for children 6 to 13 years of age and reduced short-term feelings of anxiety for adults. Regular physical activity can help keep thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age and also reduce the risk of depression and anxiety and help you sleep better. Keeping bones, joints, and muscles healthy can help ensure that you’re able to do your daily activities and be physically active. Science shows that physical activity can reduce your risk of dying early from leading causes of death, like heart disease and some cancers. People who are physically active for about 150 minutes a week have a 33% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who are physically inactive.
(Source: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm)
EXERCISE AND CANCER: Evidence linking higher physical activity to lower cancer risk comes mainly from observational studies, in which individuals report on their physical activity and are followed for years for diagnoses of cancer. For bladder cancer, the risk was 15% lower for individuals with the highest level of recreational or occupational physical activity than in those with the lowest level. Physical activity has been associated with similar reductions in risk of breast cancer among both premenopausal and postmenopausal women and shows women who increase their physical activity after menopause may also have a lower risk of breast cancer than women who do not. In colon cancer, there was a 19% lower risk in those with the highest level of activity, as well as a 21% lower risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma in those who were physically active. A pooled analysis of over 1 million individuals found that leisure-time physical activity was linked to a 23% reduced risk of kidney cancer. There is some evidence that physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer. However, it is possible that differences in smoking, rather than in physical activity, are what explain the association of physical activity with reduced risk of lung cancer.
NEW EXERCISE GUIDELINES: A leading researcher in exercise oncology, Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, professor of public health sciences at Penn State Cancer Institute, along with an international team of experts, recently released an update to their exercise guidelines for cancer survivors. The new guidelines encourage patients with cancer or survivors who recently had cancer to exercise 3 times a week for approximately 30 minutes each and engage in resistance training twice a week. These guidelines not only urge patients with cancer to be active but also encourages healthcare professionals to customize exercise prescriptions to address specific cancer‐related health outcomes. For cancer prevention, Schmitz and her colleagues recommend that the public and long‐term cancer survivors follow existing health guidelines suggesting 150 to 300 minutes of aerobic activity per week and twice‐weekly strength training. Scientists believe the process is related to inflammation and genomic instability, which are tied to cancer growth. “The benefits of exercise for cancer prevention are particularly promising because they do not require access to a costly new drug, medical technology, or technical expertise,” says Lynne Wagner, PhD, professor of social sciences and health policy at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
(Source: https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.32973)
* For More Information, Contact:
Regenstrief Public Relations NiCole Keith, PhD
prteam@regenstrief.com nkeith@iupui.edu
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