| Popis: |
The benefits of physical activity and exercise for the general population are well known: improved cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and psychological function just to name a few. However, it is only more recently that the role of physical activity and exercise has been explored for patients with cancer. Numerous benefits have come to light for all stages of cancer, making physical activity vital to cancer prevention, treatment, and aftercare. Exercise has a dose-dependent effect on breast cancer prevention, the proposed mechanisms being reduced adiposity, improved metabolic and hormonal balance, and reduced active and chronic inflammation. Patients who exercise better tolerate medical and surgical treatments, with less complications of treatment, higher chemotherapy completion rates, and improved outcomes. Therefore cancer patients are encouraged to strive to meet the same physical activity guidelines for healthy adults, with modifications as needed. Touted as the “new smoking,” there is mounting evidence that prolonged periods of inactivity are detrimental to our health and may increase the risk of certain cancers. Patients are thus advised to minimize sedentary behavior as well. Incorporating a combination of aerobic, resistance, balance training, bone strengthening, and flexibility training is beneficial to help maintain physical fitness and manage complications of cancer and cancer treatment. Overall, exercise has been shown to be safe for cancer patients. That said, breast and gynecological cancer patients may have preexisting conditions, or conditions related to their cancer, that warrant adherence to specific safety precautions. Medical and surgical complications of cancer treatment represent significant barriers to exercise for many patients, so not surprisingly they tend to be more sedentary than the general population. However, exercise has been shown to have beneficial effects on complications such as cancer-related fatigue, obesity and/or cachexia, osteopenia/osteoporosis, cardiotoxicity, chemo-related neurotoxicity, lymphedema, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Given the numerous positive effects of exercise on both general health and cancer-related conditions, every effort should be made to make exercise as safe and accessible as possible. Nonmedical barriers to exercise should also be addressed, including, but not limited to, reduced motivation, lack of transportation or childcare, and financial strain. |
