Serious Tip To Help Women Cheat Death

By Dr. Mercola

If you’re diagnosed with breast cancer, new research suggests that one of the best strategies to improve your chances of recovery is to start a regular exercise program.

This is a radical departure from the now-outdated advice that cancer patients should rest and take it easy the way heart attack patients were treated fifty years ago.

If your oncologist is not yet up to speed on the healing power of exercise, you may want to consider finding one who is …

Exercise after Cancer Diagnosis Improves Survival

A new study has shown that breast cancer patients who start exercising regularly within six months of diagnosis can lower their chances of dying by up to 30 percent.

The researchers found a benefit among those who exercised a minimum of 2.5 hours a week for 18 consecutive months, although the best results came to those who exercised almost every day.

The physical activity supported the women’s ability to fight off the disease, improving both overall and disease-free survival.

A separate, earlier study by Harvard Medical School researchers found similar benefits … breast cancer patients who exercise moderately — 3-5 hours a week — reduce their odds of dying from breast cancer by about half as compared to sedentary women.ⁱ

In fact, any amount of weekly exercise increased a patient’s odds of surviving breast cancer, and this held true regardless of whether women were diagnosed early on or after their cancer had spread.

The new recommendation — that cancer patients and cancer survivors should exercise at least 2.5 hours a week (an amount that should be easily attainable) — was buttressed in a report by Macmillan Cancer Support.ⁱⁱ As Jane Maher, chief medical officer of Macmillan Cancer Support and clinical oncologist, told BBC News:ⁱⁱⁱ

“The advice that I would have previously given to one of my patients would have been to ‘take it easy’. This has now changed significantly because of the recognition that if physical exercise were a drug, it would be hitting the headlines.”

Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, echoed these sentiments:^iv

“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 … “

You Can Get BETTER Results with FAR Less Exercise

It is important to understand that these researchers were not aware of the superior results of using high-intensity interval Peak Fitness type exercises. That was not part of the study design, but if it were, my guess is that it would have been FAR more effective than the 2.5 hours of exercise they found to be effective. More than likely one hour per week of high intensity would be far more beneficial. But that one hour is TOTAL time including warm up, recovery and cool down. The actual amount of high intensity exercise is only TWELVE MINUTES per week, which is quite extraordinary.

The report noted that evidence is growing to support the role of physical activity at all stages of cancer, both during and after treatment:

“Physical activity is important for cancer patients at all stages of the cancer care pathway. There is evidence to support the role of physical activity for the following stages of the cancer care pathway:

1. During cancer treatment – physical activity improves, or prevents the decline of physical function without increasing fatigue.
2. After cancer treatment – physical activity helps recover physical function.
3. During and after cancer treatment – physical activity can reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and mortality for some cancers and can reduce the risk of developing other long-term conditions.
4. Advanced cancer – physical activity can help maintain independence and wellbeing.”

Exercise Can Help You Feel Like Yourself Again

A cancer diagnosis is mentally and physically exhausting, and if you are undergoing radiation or chemotherapy as a form of treatment, this can be particularly debilitating (you may want to look into some of the natural cancer treatments available, which do not cause the serious, sometimes deadly, side effects associated with conventional cancer treatment). Exercise can be invaluable here, helping to lessen your symptoms and generally improve how you feel, which means you’ll be able to get back to your normal life more quickly.

The Macmillan Cancer Support report highlighted the following ways that exercise can help you to mitigate some of the common side effects of conventional cancer treatment, including the ability to:

Reduce fatigue and improve your energy levels	Manage stress, anxiety, low mood or depression	Improve bone health
Improve heart health (some chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy can cause heart problems later in life)	Build muscle strength, relieve pain and improve range of movement	Maintain a healthy weight
Sleep better	Improve your appetite	Prevent constipation

Why You Should Start Exercising Even if You’re Cancer-Free…

Exercise is one of the most powerful strategies available to reduce your cancer risk, so starting a program while you’re cancer-free should increase your chances of staying that way.

The notion that exercise may help prevent cancer dates back to 1922, when two independent studies observed that cancer deaths declined among men working occupations that required higher amounts of physical activity. Since then a paper in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reported that “more than a hundred epidemiologic studies on the role of physical activity and cancer prevention have been published.”^v

In the same paper, which reviewed published epidemiologic studies on physical activity and the risk of developing cancer, it’s noted that:

“The data are clear in showing that physically active men and women have about a 30-40% reduction in the risk of developing colon cancer, compared with inactive persons … With regard to breast cancer, there is reasonably clear evidence that physically active women have about a 20-30% reduction in risk, compared with inactive women. It also appears that 30-60 min·d-1 of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity is needed to decrease the risk of breast cancer, and that there is likely a dose-response relation.”

MORE HERE