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Exercising
More After Cancer Boosts Quality of Life
Study after study has shown that exercise improves quality
of life in people who have survived cancer. Now, a new study
suggests that improvements in quality of life are related
more closely to whether cancer survivors maintain or increase
their physical activity after treatment rather than on a
particular amount of exercise.
"It doesn't matter how much physical activity a cancer
survivor engages in after they are diagnosed in terms of
improving their quality of life," lead author Dr. Chris
M. Blanchard of the University of Ottawa in Canada told
Reuters Health. What's important, he said, is "the
positive change they make to their physical activity after
diagnosis."
Blanchard's team studied the relationship between exercise
and quality of life in 352 adults who had survived cancer.
People who exercised at least half-an-hour three times a
week had a significantly higher quality of life than less
physically active cancer survivors, the researchers report
in the November issue of the journal Preventive Medicine.
The study also showed that people who maintained or increased
their physical activity after cancer had a better quality
of life than survivors who became less active.
In fact, the change in physical activity was more strongly
related to quality of life than survivors' overall amount
of activity, according to the report.>
"So when it comes to promoting physical activity after
a cancer diagnosis in terms of improving quality of life,
we can promote that cancer survivors increase their physical
activity," Blanchard said. It does not seem necessary
to recommend a specific amount of exercise, he said.
A person who does not exercise at all may be encouraged
to exercise a couple of times a week, while it may be helpful
for someone who exercises twice a week to add another session
each week, he said.
But Blanchard cautioned that the study looked at the relationship
between changes in physical activity and quality of life,
not the effect of exercise on the odds of cancer returning.
"More specific amounts of physical activity may be
needed in terms of preventing recurrence," he said.
"This is a new area that is currently being explored."
Blanchard and his colleagues also point out that more research
is needed to confirm the findings.
SOURCE: Preventive Medicine, November 2003.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
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