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Exercise can ease some aspects of chemotherapy

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Chemotherapy's side effects may discourage some women from starting or sticking with that treatment. The study reviewed here showed that women who did regular aerobic exercise (brisk walking for example) or regular resistance exercise (using weights to develop strength) during chemotherapy had better self-esteem and better fitness than women who didn't exercise during chemo.

The researchers also found that the women who did resistance exercises were more likely than those who didn't to complete the full course of chemotherapy.

This study didn't show that exercise gave women getting chemotherapy an improved sense of well-being during treatment. But other research has shown that regular exercise during breast cancer treatment can improve both physical AND emotional well-being during and after treatment.

If you're being treated for breast cancer, try to make exercise, as well as a healthy diet, part of your daily routine. Think of exercise and a healthy diet as important parts of your treatment plan to help you recover and stay healthy.

Talk to your doctor about how much and how often you should exercise. Find the right exercise routine for YOU and then do your best to stick with it. It can make a difference both physically and mentally, today and tomorrow.

Last Updated: 2007-10-15 15:01:54 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women undergoing chemo for breast cancer, an exercise program doesn't do much to improve their quality of life -- but it can boost their self-esteem, physical fitness, and chemotherapy completion rates.

"Breast cancer chemotherapy may cause unfavorable changes in physical functioning, body composition, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life," Dr. Kerry S. Courneya, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues write in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The researchers examined the possible beneficial effects of aerobic and resistance exercise on these changes in a study involving 242 breast cancer patients beginning chemotherapy. The women were randomly assigned to usual care, supervised resistance exercise, or supervised aerobic exercise for the duration of their chemotherapy.

The average length of the exercise intervention was 17 weeks, and 70 percent of the participants stuck with it.

Compared to usual care, aerobic exercise was significantly better in improving patients' self-esteem, aerobic fitness, and percent body fat. Resistance exercise was also superior to usual care for improving self-esteem, lower and upper body strength, lean body mass, and chemotherapy completion rates.

However, neither type of exercise significantly improved any cancer-related quality-of-life measures such as fatigue, depression, or anxiety.

Nonetheless, the authors suggest that cancer doctors consider recommending an aerobic or resistance exercise program to women being treated for breast cancer.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, October 2007.

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This page was last modified on: October 24, 2007

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