Cancer Patients Should Be Forced To Exercise
Macmillan Cancer Support, the charity that funds care and support for all cancer victims has said that all people receiving treatment for cancer should be made to take two-and-a-half horus of exercise every week.
The amount of exercise they are recommending is the amount of time that the government recommends for everyone to exercise each week: previous research has shown that taking two-and-a-half horus of moderate exercise every week decreases the risk of heart disease by around 20 per cent.
Macmillan says that the advice traditionally given to cancer patients – to rest and recuperate gently – is outdated and not helpful. Instead, the charity says that exercise reduces the risk of death through cancer, and has the added bonus of reducing the side-effects of weight gain and fatigue, commonly associated with the treatment. Their report, called ‘Move More’ says that there are currently around two million people in the UK with cancer, and of thosesome 1.6 million are not getting enough exercise.
The American College of Sports Medicine supports that advice, adding that exercise is perfectly safe to undertake during and after most kinds of treatment for cancer.
Ciaran Devane of Macmillan says that the kind of exercise they are advocating doesn’t have to be strenuous: “Doing the gardening, going for a brisk walk or a swim, all count. 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.”
That amount of exercise can reduce the risk of death from prostate cancer in men by 30% and reduces the risk of breast cancer recurring 40%. Deaths from bowel cancer can be reduced by fifty percent by exercising for just 150 minutes each week.
