An associate of mine recently asked me if there was a beneficial effect of exercise on cancer patients. I immediately did a Google search (search words: effect of exercise on cancer patients) on this topic and came up with some interesting information. One article that I found was a review of a number of other previous publications, about the effects of exercise on cancer. I have summarized this article below.
Medical Treatment:
and Controlled Clinical Trials
Journal of Clinical Oncology: Volume 23, Number 16, June 2005
The authors of the above manuscript have compiled the results of the effects of a variety of exercise modalities on individuals with cancer, or those being treated for cancer, or those after being treated for cancer.
The types of exercises employed in the reviewed studies included: walking, cycling, swimming, resistance exercises, aerobic exercises or a combination of these exercises; all performed at intensities which induced the patients to work at between 50% and 90% of their estimated maximal heart rate.
The frequency of the exercises performed ranged from: a low level, two times a week, up to a high level of two times daily, with long-term durations ranging from 2 weeks up to 1 year. In some studies, the exercising group was compared with a group that received some form of training of a lesser intensity, frequency, and/or duration, or to a group that did not receive any exercise at all.
A diverse set of outcomes were subsequently measured in the exercising patients and included: subjective, self-reported, function and symptoms evaluations, psychological well-being evaluations, overall health-related quality of life evaluations, and; objective outcomes, such as measurement of physiologic and performance functions.
The types of cancers that were present in the exercising group included: breast, stomach, head, neck, colon, ovarian, brain and lung cancer, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
The objective physical functions that were changed in a positive way in the exercising group included: increased aerobic capacity, increased muscle strength, longer walking distance, better range of motion/body flexibility.
body weight, body mass index, total body water content, fat free body mass, general body composition, increased total energy expenditure, bone mineral density, creatinine excretion rate, decreased neutropenia, increased hemoglobin content, more natural killer cell activity, decreased fasting glucose levels, decreased insulin resistance and increased IGF2 and IGFBP-1 levels were also changed for the better.
Subjectively rated, self-reported out-comes, included: symptomatic relief from nausea, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, pain and diarrhea.
Psychological related well-being outcomes included: better mood status, increased fighting spirit, less depression, less anxiety, more happiness, increased levels of self esteem and a generally increased quality of life.
The authors concluded that: “The general pattern of results indicates that exercise can be effective in reducing symptoms and improving the physical and psychosocial functioning of patients with cancer.”
Dr. J
Dr. J’s Personal Training
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Newtown Square, PA 19073
For those of you who want to research this topic further, listed below are the original publications referenced by the above article.
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