I am posting some notes I shared with the Lung Cancer survivior's group at a local hospital here in Minnesota this week.

The topic of discussion was on the benefits of exercise with a cancer diagnosis. Here are some of the key points shared.

Activity is the key to avoiding debilitating effects of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and adjuvant therapy.   

1. Exercise is Safe
   • Studies repeatedly show that exercise is safe
   • Well tolerated
   • Beneficial
   • Post-surgical and During chemotherapy, radiation , immunotherapy, bone marrow transplant
2. Exercise helps combat Fatigue
   • fatigue #1 side effect
   • Profoundly negative effect on quality of life
   • Studies show that exercise reduces fatigue
   • Aerobic exercise during chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplant has a positive effect on reducing fatigue
   • Same effect with patients with metastatic disease
3. Too much Rest during treatment can be debilitating 
   • Myth - Too much rest – quickly become weak and debilitated
   • On average patients who are inactive lose
     • 5% of functional ability during 7 weeks of radiation therapy
     • 16% during first 9 weeks of chemotherapy
     • 19% during high dose chemotherapy (for bone marrow transplant) in 3-4 weeks
   • Physical ability decreases, simple activities become more challenging = feel tired more easily
   • Decreased ability has a negative effect on emotional and social function
   • Leads to muscle wasting
   • Bone loss
   • Sarcopenia (increased fat accumulation in conjunction with increased muscle loss)
   • Decline in heart & lung function
4. Exercise can aid in maintain Functional Ability
   • Able to improve fitness with modest exercise during treatment
   • Able to do ADL and have some energy to do other pleasurable things important to you
5. Exercise can aid in maintaining a healty Body Weight
   • Help offset weight gain due to treatment
   • Can decrease risk of recurrence in some cancers
   • Offset of other serious illnesses (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, bone and joint problems)
6. Exercise can aid in maintaing Bone Health
   • Treatments & inactivity increase rate of bone loss
   • risk of fractures increased
   • can reduce amount of bone loss during chemotherapy
7. Exercise can aid in: 
   • Reducing Anxiety & depression
   • Difficulty sleeping - aids in promoting better sleep
   • Self-esteem - increases
   • Body image - improves
   • Relieve/reduce nausea
   • Improve appetite
   • Decrease pain
   • Helps cognition “chemo brain”
   • Better patients tolerate treatment
   • Discharge from hospital sooner
8. Moderate exercise
   • as little as 10 minutes
   • Every other day
   • Sufficient to reduce fatigue
   • Divide into short sessions – 2 minutes
   • Just as effective in reducing fatigue vs. struggling to complete a sustained period

If you have questions about how to incorporate an exercise program while unergoing cancer treatment, please contact me at your convenience.

In good health,

Deb Preachuk
www.pilatesintegration.com