Exercise Helps Women with Breast Cancer: Study

Feb. 16, 2007— -- Women with breast cancer benefit from improved mood and well-being if theytake part in group exercise, a study found today.

Treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy can affect the quality of lifeof patients and leave them feeling low and exhausted.

But researchers in Scotland found that group exercise programmes helped womenbeing treated for early-stage breast cancer.

More than 170 women took part in the study over a six-month period.

One group received their usual care while the other received usual care butalso took part in a 12-week programme of exercise sessions. This involved attending two classes and then undertaking one additionalexercise session at home every week.

The researchers measured areas such as levels of depression, quality of life,mood, shoulder mobility, ability to walk distances and weekly levels of physicalactivity.

These were measured after 12 weeks and then again after six months.Women in the second group enjoyed psychological and physical benefits as aresult of the exercise programme.

After six months, they also made fewer visits to their GP and had spent fewernights in hospital.

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The researchers, from the University of Strathclyde, said the women may havebenefited from the exercise itself or the group experience, or a combination ofboth.

They concluded: "Supervised group exercise provided functional andpsychological benefit after a 12-week intervention and six months later.

"Clinicians should encourage activity for their patients. Policy makers shouldconsider the inclusion of exercise opportunities in cancer rehabilitationservices."

Christine Fogg, joint chief executive of the charity Breast Cancer Care,welcomed the study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

"As the first randomized, controlled trial of its kind, this is an importantaddition to the growing evidence that exercise can have a major, positive impacton the physical and psychological well-being of people diagnosed with breastcancer.