Exercise, Cancer recovery and prevention.

A report by Macmillan Cancer Support has suggested that cancer patients should get at least 150 minutes of exercise every week. The charity explained that traditional advice for patients to rest while they received their treatment no longer held true.

The report, Move More, said 1.6 million cancer survivors in the UK were not getting enough exercise.
Research showed that doing exercise regularly helped reduce the side effects of cancer treatment such as tiredness and weight gain, and decreased the danger of death from the disease.

The report said: “The evidence review shows that physical exercise does not increase fatigue during treatment, and can in fact boost energy after treatment.”

“It can also lower their chances of getting heart disease and osteoporosis. Also, doing recommended levels of physical activity may reduce the chance of dying from the disease. It may also help reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.”

The report also highlighted earlier research that showed breast cancer patients who took the recommended amount of exercise reduced their risk of dying from the disease by 40%.

It also said that bowel cancer survivors could reduce their risk by 50%, and prostate cancer patients by 30%, if they exercised regularly.

Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Cancer patients would be shocked if they knew just how much of a benefit physical activity could have on their recovery and long term health, in some cases reducing their chances of having to go through the gruelling ordeal of treatment all over again.

“It doesn’t need to be anything too strenuous, doing the gardening, going for a brisk walk or a swim, all count.”

On August 8th. when this report was published to the media Sue Cogley from Paddlers for Life was interviewed by Neil Timms on BBC Radio Cumbria.
More news including Pink Champagne on Health News here on the BBC website.