BUT A NEW STUDY SUGGESTS WEIGHT TRAINING COULD HELP TO HEAL BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS

A diagnosis of breast cancer is a traumatic event, not only for the individual but also for all the family and friends involved. The patient is often so devastated by the news that she does not fully comprehend all the information being provided.

Very often she will come away from a meeting with her doctor having failed to ask relevant questions. She is certainly aware that some form of treatment is necessary but does she know that she also needs to address lifestyle and nutrition issues?

The severity of the disease can often lead to surgery. Post-operative recovery strategies vary as individual cases differ.

It was common practice for doctors to warn that lifting heavy weights or even heavy groceries could cause painful arm swelling. It was well-meaning advice, in that it was believed that women who had radiation to the armpit, or lymph nodes removed to check for cancer, can suffer lymphedema — a build-up of fluids that causes painful and unsightly swelling of the arms or hands.

BENEFITS

To avoid it, doctors advised women to avoid using the affected arm to lift toddlers, carry a heavy handbag or scrub floors. Even activities like golf and tennis raised concern.

I came across an interesting study led by Kathryn Schmitz, an exercise scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which highlighted the benefits of weight-lifting for cancer recovery patients. This study seems to contradict the common belief about lymphedema.

Lifting weights, which boosts mood, muscle mass, bone strength and weight control, was thought to be a bad idea for women prone to lymphedema.

Schmitz challenged that notion with a small study several years ago, finding that weight training did not make lymphedema worse. Her new study is the first one large and long enough to give clear proof that this is so, and even suggests that weightlifting can help.

It involved 141 breast cancer survivors who had suffered lymphedema. Half were told not to change their exercise habits. The rest were given 90-minute weightlifting classes twice a week for 13 weeks.
They wore a custom-fitted compression garment on the affected arm and gradually worked up to more challenging weights and repetitions.

For the next 39 weeks, they continued these exercises on their own.

The women’s arms were measured monthly. After one year, fewer weightlifters had suffered lymphedema flare-ups — 14pc, versus 29pc of the others.

Participant Gay McArthur (56), from New Jersey, said: “When I first got diagnosed with lymphedema, they said I couldn’t lift more than five pounds,” she said. “But weight training caused no problems and has made me feel better.”

Schmitz suggests that breast cancer survivors should not rush into weight training. She suggests that you wear a well-fitting compression garment during workouts, that a certified fitness professional should teach you how to do the exercises properly and that you should start slow.

MOTION

It will take time to recover a full range of motion in overhead movements until the scar tissue from the operation eventually stretches out.

However the 90-minute workout used in the study is too long, as it promotes the release of the stress hormone cortisol, which is catabolic, ie, eats muscle.

Also, the participants in the study performed the same repetitive exercises for too long, which can lead to boredom, lack of progress and eventually injuries.

Workouts for cancer patients should be frequent, brief in length and anabolic, or muscle-building, to help the body rebuild itself. The goal is to sweat and release toxins and help move the lymphatic fluids that remove acidity from the tissue.

Thomas Edison said that the doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will involve the patient in the proper use of food, fresh air, and exercise. But you don’t have to be sick or overweight to begin to be healthy — you only have to start.

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