Cancer and Exercise

Cancer is a difficult disease to fight and there are thousands of people who fight many variations of cancer. Whether one is diagnosed with a common and easily treatable disease like early stage skin cancer, or a very rare disease like mesothelioma, there are many who win their battle against cancer. There are many things that people use to fight cancer, one of these being exercise. Exercise does not treat cancer, but it does help people who have cancer and it gives a person an increased chance of getting better during and after the time they have faced cancer.

For patients going through any kind of treatments, exercise can have an exceptional effect. Research has shown that exercising can help reduce the symptoms that patients feel the cancer treatments. It does this by increasing ones energy and decreasing the negative symptoms of the treatments, and the patient will create a sort of normal lifestyle while going through a difficult time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that adults should take part in moderate exercise for thirty minutes a day, five or more days a week. For Cancer patients, it may be difficult to take part in moderate exercise often. For this reason, patients who are able should take up light to moderate exercises as often as possible. Every person is at their own level of exercise and should not overly push him or herself. Exercises like walking and bike rides are good for increasing blood flow and helping the patient become more active. This also helps them have more energy and allows them to do more physically, which further increases their chances of survival and their quality of life when in remission. Yoga is another wonderful exercise. Yoga and other flexibility exercises can help patients build strength, correct their posture, develop muscles, and improve their breathing.

Though exercise is good for patients with cancer, it may be difficult for patients who are receiving treatments to take part. These patients are more apt to be sick from the various difficult cancer treatments. When a patient is receiving treatments, they should still try to exercise when their body allows them, but they should not force themselves to do so. Before beginning any exercise routine, cancer patients should consult their doctor to make sure their body is able to handle it, and it is not too weak. If the doctor tells the patient to go ahead with an exercise routine, they should do so at the same time every day, so their body can properly adjust to this being a normal routine.

By: David Haas