Weight Training Helps Cancer Survivors Much More Than Aerobic Exercise

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Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 27 Mar 2006 - 15:00 PDT

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There are two main types of exercise, one to improve your fitness (aerobic-training) and one to improve your strength (weight-training). It seems that for breast cancer survivors, weight training offers twice the benefit for survivors that aerobic training does.

This is according to a new study carried out by researchers at the University of Minnesota. You can read about this study in the journal Cancer, May 1, 2006.

The researchers found that cancer survivors who practiced weight-training twice a week for six months experienced significant physical and emotional improvements.

Women who are diagnosed and under treatment for breast cancer often suffer from:

-- Anxiety
-- Chronic fatigue
-- Depression
-- Insomnia
-- Weight gain

Breast cancer treatment and success over the last twenty years has improved considerably. However, focus has been mainly on curing the patient or helping her live longer. The side effects of having breast cancer and the treatment that comes with it, and how to reduce those side effects, has not been extensively studied until recently.

When comparing strength-training to a previous study which looked at aerobic-training, researchers found that strength-training (weight training) offers much more help for the patient's emotional and physical state than aerobic training - about double.

Dr. Tetsuya Ohira, and team, evaluated the efficacy of strength-straining on 86 breast cancer survivors. The scientists were evaluating what effects strength-training might have on the women's depressive symptoms and quality of life. Some of the patients were on a weight-training programme while others did no exercise at all.

The researchers concluded that a change in body composition and strength, as a result of the weight-training programme, empowered these women with a sense of return to feeling in control of their bodies and could translate into feeling greater efficacy in other areas of life.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
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