Close X
Saturday, November 2, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Most Breast Cancer Patients May Not Be Getting Enough Exercise

David Pesci Wiley Science Newsroom, 09 Jun, 2014 10:24 AM
    Physical activity after breast cancer diagnosis has been linked with prolonged survival and improved quality of life, but most participants in a large breast cancer study did not meet national physical activity guidelines after they were diagnosed. Moreover, African-American women were less likely to meet the guidelines than white women. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings indicate that efforts to promote physical activity in breast cancer patients may need to be significantly enhanced.
     
    The US Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the American Cancer Society, recommends that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity (or an equivalent combination thereof) each week for general health benefits and for chronic disease prevention and management.
     
    Because it’s important to understand whether there is capacity for improvement in the physical activity levels of women with breast cancer, Brionna Hair, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her colleagues examined levels of and changes in physical activity following breast cancer diagnosis, overall and by race, in a population-based study of breast cancer patients. The study assessed pre- and post-diagnosis physical activity levels in 1,735 women aged 20 to 74 years who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2008 and 2011 in 44 counties of North Carolina.
     
    The researchers found that only 35 percent of breast cancer survivors met current physical activity guidelines post-diagnosis. A decrease in activity approximately six months after diagnosis was reported by 59 percent of patients, with the average participant reducing activity by 15 metabolic equivalent hours—equivalent to about five hours per week of brisk walking. When compared with white women, African-American women were about 40 percent less likely to meet national physical activity guidelines post-diagnosis, although their reported weekly post-diagnosis physical activity was not significantly different from that of White women (12 vs 14 metabolic equivalent hours). Ms. Hair noted that it’s important to realize that African-American women experience higher mortality from breast cancer than other groups in the United States.
     
    “Medical care providers should discuss the role physical activity plays in improving breast cancer outcomes with their patients, and strategies that may be successful in increasing physical activity among breast cancer patients need to be comprehensively evaluated and implemented,” said Ms. Hair.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Energy drinks consumption linked to smoking

    Energy drinks consumption linked to smoking
    Weekly consumption of sports drinks and energy drinks among teens is linked to higher consumption of other sugar-sweetened beverages, cigarette smoking, and screen media use, said a study.

    Energy drinks consumption linked to smoking

    Can meditation empower us to regulate immune system?

    Can meditation empower us to regulate immune system?
    The power of meditation may be much more than what is generally thought as researchers have now found that with behavioural training like breathing exercises people can learn to modulate their immune system.

    Can meditation empower us to regulate immune system?

    Mealtime TV viewing during pregnancy may turn kids obese

    Mealtime TV viewing during pregnancy may turn kids obese
    If you do not want your kids to grow up obese, stay away from viewing television during mealtime even before they are born, a study suggested.

    Mealtime TV viewing during pregnancy may turn kids obese

    Young blood holds key for reversing ageing: Studies

    Young blood holds key for reversing ageing: Studies
    In what could be termed as a game changer for the scientific community, three separate teams of researchers have discovered how the ageing process can be reversed one day in humans - by infusing young blood.

    Young blood holds key for reversing ageing: Studies

    Soon, a method to predict volcanic eruption

    Soon, a method to predict volcanic eruption
    Preventing disasters from volcanic eruption could soon be more effective as scientists have now come closer to developing a method to predicting volcanic eruption behaviour.

    Soon, a method to predict volcanic eruption

    Brain cells tell you to either have sex or go to war!

    Brain cells tell you to either have sex or go to war!
    Secret to stopping a war could lie in following a basic instinct - having sex - as scientists have for the first time discovered that the brain cells mediating attack behaviour and sexual desires are "intimately associated” and “deeply intertwined".

    Brain cells tell you to either have sex or go to war!