25 Years Worth Of Reasons To Add Exercise To Your Breast Cancer Prescription

Faye Prior | 2014-06-21 04:26:17

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK. We all know about it too, and we see adverts about it on the television every day. The chances are that if you have breast cancer, or any other health condition for that matter, you’ll be inundated with information about what the doctors can do for you, but you’ll also want to know what YOU can do to help too.

Exercise as a treatment is still a relatively new deal in the health world, even though people have been researching the effects of it on breast cancer outcomes for more than 25 years. The good news is that becoming more physically active, even from as little as walking the dog is something good that you can definitely do to help yourself. Forget any misconceptions you have, you don’t need to get exhausted and sweaty, a gym membership isn’t even required. Below are some of the best reasons to get physically active if you have breast cancer.

More Likely To Live

We must address the elephant in the room. Two things in life are certain, we are born and we die (If you’re reading this in the year 3000, things could be different). But there’s no getting away from the fact that cancer can bring us to our death sooner than we’d like. Research tells us time and time again, people with breast cancer who continue to participate in some leisure time physical activities, like walking and gardening, are more than 30% less likely to die from their cancer. Better still, people who do this for 150 minutes a week increase their chances to over 40%, and if they beat cancer then it’s less likely to return. Who doesn’t want that?

Less Likely To Pick Up Other Diseases

Physical activity deserves more credit then we give it. It’s associated with a reduced risk of developing tons of other health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and dementia. The last thing you need when you’re fighting cancer is to have a new contender enter the ring. Keeping active will help to keep these other conditions at bay.

Keeps Us Fit and Awake

One of the reasons why physical activity is a powerful prevention tool is that it increases our fitness, and fitness is the key to good health and staying alive. The other thing about being fit is that it can make us feel more energised and less tired. Of course, tiredness is a huge problem for people undergoing cancer treatment, and it can totally disrupt all of your daily plans. Being more active is the last thing you’ll want to do when you’re tired, but contrary to common sense, it will actually make you feel more energised, in both the short and long term.

We Won’t Need To Throw Our Clothes Out

Unfortunately a lot of us are going to pick up some excess body weight during cancer treatment. Many factors interact to make this happen, medications, tiredness, and bed rest are some. If we try to keep active every week we can try and stop this from happening, keeping our body confidence in check and giving our body the best environment to flourish in during treatment.

It Brings Some Sunshine Back In To Our Life

Let’s face it, nobody wants to receive a cancer diagnosis, and from that point on it can feel as though a big black cloud is following you everywhere. But we can use physical activity to get rid of the doom and gloom, to give ourselves the best quality of life possible, and to bring back our happiness and positive attitude. Even in the short term, moving around more releases lots of good hormones that make us feel relaxed and happy, and even act like pain relievers. If we keep moving around every day, we’ll get these good hormones again and again, putting us in a better mood every day. There’s also something to be said for noticing all of the above benefits taking place too. Having a better outlook for our health, and feeling better health on a day to day basis is one sure way to improve our view of ourselves and the world as well.

So there we have it, a quick five reasons to get off the sofa and give the dog a walk it wants so badly, but by no means a conclusive list. The benefits of being more active are endless. You don’t need to go running, take up hockey, or join the fast lane at the swimming pool. These are benefits you can get from a daily walk, some gardening, or even hoovering. The most important part is to find something that you truly enjoy.

Faye Prior (Researcher)

Sources

Battaglini et al., (2014). Twenty-five years of research on the effects of exercise training in breast cancer survivors. World Journal of Clinical Oncology, 5(2), 177-90.

Ibrahim & Al-Homaidh. (2011). Physical activity and survival after breast cancer diagnosis: meta-analysis of published studies. Medical Oncology, 28(3), 753-65.