Exercise and Cancer

Someone asked me what was the point of working out, since I ended up getting cancer anyway? While its true exercise did not prevent my getting cancer, it did help prepare me for the fight of my life and it can help you too.  

Cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are specifically designed to break down your body’s cells. Exercise and physical activity are the best forms of treatment for rebuilding them! In fact, the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) are urging doctors to encourage their patients to be as physically active as possible before, during and after cancer treatment. 

So where do you start? First, check in with your doctors to see what is and is not appropriate for you. Once you get the go ahead, try to include the following fitness components into your routine.

Aerobic (cardio) exercises are designed to strengthen your heart and lungs. They help lower your stress and anxiety, which have undoubtedly increased since your diagnosis. A strong cardiovascular system helps:

·        Clear toxins from your body quicker

·        Speed up recovery times

·         Lessen treatment induced fatigue

·        Increase your stamina

Cardio also helps keep your weight down, which in turn can lower your chances of a recurrence by 30- 50%.  Simply brisk walking for 30 minutes, 5 days a week will do the trick.

Surgery often affects your range of motion, posture and strength, especially for patients who have under gone a mastectomy.  Exercises like gentle yoga and tai chi are a great way to regain your flexibility and relieve symptoms of lymphedema which may result from having lymph nodes removed or radiated.

The stronger you are, the easier it is to get around and do daily tasks, making resistance training an important part of your routine. Resistance training exercises help:

·         Increase bone density, lessening your risks for developing osteoporosis,

·         Keep muscles from wasting away

·         Improve blood circulation and lymphatic flow

They can be performed 2-3 days a week, with rest days in between. Words of caution however; do not start weight training if your cancer has metastasized to your bones.

Don’t forget to throw some balance exercises into your routine.  

Surgery or reactions to certain medications may cause nerve damage known as neuropathy which can affect your balance, placing you at greater risk for falls and broken bones. Simply standing on one leg for 10 seconds, then switching sides is a great way to start.

No matter where you are in your journey, exercise can play a vital role in your treatment plan.  Go slowly, gradually building up over time and keep checking in with your doctors. The good news is it appears that any exercise, in any amount is beneficial!

Cara Novy-Bennewitz

Cancer Exercise Specialist

Author – Diagnosis: Breast Cancer –The Best action Plan for Navigating Your Journey

www.workingoutcancer.com

Chicken Nuggets

Dear Dr. Bone,

My mother hates it when I eat McDonald’s food. She says that the chicken nuggets are loaded with chemicals. Would I be more likely to get cancer from eating too many chicken nuggets? If so, what kind of cancer?

Junk Food Junkie 

Dear Junk Food Junkie,

Hard question to answer. I won’t single out one fast food chain. Most chicken nuggets bought at a fast food restaurant are made with combinations of chicken meat and what are called by-products. These are other parts of the chicken including the tendons that attach muscles to bones. They grind the meat into a paste and add food starch, dextrose, and other flavorings. There is no documented evidence that the contents of nuggets cause cancer and it is highly unlikely that eating nuggets now and again will cause cancer. However, a diet rich in vegetables and fruits will help to prevent cancer. So, if you are going to eat chicken nuggets and fries, you’d be smart to order the apple slices or carrot sticks to go along with them!!!

Dr. Bone

Cancer Quiz

Quiz/statistics/ poverty

Cancer Quiz

1.      What is the most common kind of cancer worldwide?

2.      Which cancer is considered the most curable? 

3.      Which causes more deaths in the United States: cancer or heart attack and stroke?

4.      Which cancers are most preventable?

5.      What percentage of cancer is probably preventable?

6.      What is the biggest risk factor for cancer?

Answers

1.      The most common cancer worldwide is lung cancer, causing over 1.2 million deaths each year. While 85% of the patients with lung cancer are smokers or were smokers, more and more lung cancer is occurring that is unrelated to smoking. In developing countries where smoking is more common and pollution is not as well regulated as in the United States, the incidence of lung cancer is rising.

2.      Many cancers are curable at an early stage. Skin cancers, breast cancer, testicular cancer, and prostate cancer all have excellent prognoses when detected early. Skin cancer is easy to detect and treat if you are having regular skin checks, reputation the reputation of most curable. 

3.      Though they are neck-and-neck, the combination of heart disease and stroke causes more deaths than cancer in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

4.      Lung cancer is highly preventable by avoiding smoking. Having regular colonoscopies should reduce the diagnosis of colon cancer dramatically because precancerous growths can be removed before they turn into cancer. Cervical cancer, a major worldwide risk in developing countries, could be reduced dramatically by the HPV vaccine and by implementation of global screening for this sexually-transmitted virus.

5. A full 30% percent of cancer could be prevented by not smoking, eating fruits and vegetables, and maintaining a normal body weight through regular vigorous physical activity. Unfortunately there are many socioeconomic barriers to attaining these goals.

6. Tobacco smoking is the highest risk for cancer.

These answers may seem obvious, but I was amazed at the number of people who thought that breast cancer was the most common and most deadly worldwide. We take it for granted that people all over the world know the dangers of cigarette-smoking, but data show that people living in other countries are unaware of the health hazards of smoking.

Few people realized how rare some cancers are in the US. For example, there are only about 11,000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in the US annually, but this cancer is a leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa. Again, lack of effective public health.


~ Dr. Melanie Bone