Cancer Survivors Do Better With Exercise Feb. 2, 2012 (MedPage Today) -- Another large study has confirmed that cancer survivors have better physical function and quality of life when they are physically active after their treatment ends, researchers found. Link.
_Exercise studied as breast cancer prevention.
By Sarah Bridge,
CBC News Jan 4, 2012 "...an Alberta-based study of 400 healthy, post-menopausal women that will compare the impact of moderate and high-level exercise regimes on risk factors associated with breast cancer such as body fat and hormone levels." The lead researcher is Christine Friedenreich. Link.
Notable Quote "If you can't make time for being phsyically active in your daily life, plan to make time for being sick," Ballard-Barbash says. She recommends women try to exercise every day, even if it's just a walk... "If people don't want to commit to this, they can commit to having a loss of function in their middle years."
Full story.Rachel Ballard-Barbash is associate director of the Applied Research Program in Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute.
Exercise
Exercise for Health Design and implementation of the Exercise for Health trial — A pragmatic exercise intervention for women with breast cancer Contemporary Clinical Trials Volume 32, Issue 4, July 2011, Pages 577-585 “Participation in both intervention arms during and following treatment for breast cancer was feasible and acceptable to women. Future work, designed to inform translation into practice, will evaluate the quality of life, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural outcomes associated with each mode of delivery.” – excerpt // cross-posted to breast cancer news page.
Yoga Thrive
CPOP Talk, Winter 2010 Nicole Culos-Reed at the University of Calgary has been leading research
into the potential benefits of therapeutic yoga for cancer patients
since 2002. Yoga Thrive, a seven-week program, has been shown to benefit
mood, reduce stress, and improve physical activity levels as well as
quality of life. Several years ago, the program was expanded to include
support persons. Ashley Ross recently completed a master's thesis that
looked at prostate cancer survivors and their support persons. Each yoga
session followed a specific sequence of breathing exercises, a series
of six to 10 modified yoga asanas or poses, and a final savasana or
relaxation pose. Participants experienced acute benefits such as
decreased levels of stress and fatigue, along with increases in mood.
Next steps for Yoga Thrive: expansion to rural parts of Alberta, as well
as a focus on brain cancers. Click here for the abstract.
Non-exercisers wanted
CPOP Talk, Winter 2010 - Researchers in Alberta recently recruited
post-menopausal women for a study into exercise and breast cancer risk. BETA — Breast
Cancer and Exercise Trial in Alberta
— is a follow-up to ALPHA — Alberta Physical Activity and Breast Cancer
Prevention. ALPHA trial results suggest that exercise can lead to biological
changes that reduce the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women.
Although health agencies have begun to recommend more exercise than the
standard 30 minutes of activity five days a week, exactly how much more is
required is unknown. Hence BETA, which will recruit 330 women from 50 to 74
years of age. These non-exercising, non-smoking women will be randomized into a
group that does 150 minutes a week, or one that does 300 minutes. The trial
will continue for one year. <www.beta-trial.com>
Exercise helps, but isn't happening
CPOP Talk, Fall 2010 - Close to 600 young adult cancer survivors across Canada were surveyed using the Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study and several psychosocial scales, with physical activity measures of prime importance. While the findings show that physical activity is associated with health-related quality of life, 23% of respondents were completely sedentary, 25% were insufficiently active, 22% were within public health guidelines, and 29% were above guidelines. Abstract: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20857227
Dragon boats, anyone?
CPOP Talk, Summer 2010 - Researchers in South Carolina who are
studying physical activity programs for cancer survivors have looked into how
people choose between group activities. The 133 participants had a choice of
dragon boat paddling or group walking. Just over half chose dragon boat
paddling, with few of the demographic, clinical, physical or psychosocial
factors being significantly associated with choice. Dragon-boat paddlers were
more likely to be Caucasian, and slightly more likely to have cancers other
than breast as well as having more lower-body strength, leading the team to
recommend a menu of activity choices. Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20661658
