Forget laughter, is exercise truly the best medicine?
Exercise oncology experts are out with new recommendations today suggesting a prescription for exercise can lower the risk of developing certain cancers. They say exercise can also help those living with cancer, as well as survivors.
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and the American College of Sports Medicine were both involved in reviewing the latest scientific evidence before offering the recommendations.
The co-chair of the roundtable, Katie Schmitz, PH.D. FACSM, says it's about turning the science into practical guidelines.
"With more than 43 million cancer survivors worldwide, we have a growing need to address the unique health issues facing people living with and beyond cancer and better undersand how exercise may help prevent and control cancer".
The guidelines emphasize the strong benefit of physical activity. While an individual may feel too tired to exercise while undergoing cancer treatments, experts say 30 minute sessions of aerobic and resistance exercise, three times a week can help reduce the common side effects of those treatments, such as fatigue.
Among the recommendations:
- For all adults, exercise is important for cancer prevention and specifically lowers risk of seven common types of cancer: colon, breast, endometrial, kidney, bladder, esophagus and stomach
- For cancer survivors, incorporate exercise to help improve survival after a diagnosis of breast, colon and prostate cancer
- Exercising during and after cancer treatment improves fatigue, anxiety, depression, physical function, quality of life and does not exacerbate lymphedema
- Continue research that will drive the integration of exercise into the standard of care for cancer
- Translate into practice the increasingly robust evidence base about the positive effects of exercise for cancer patients
