Healthy dose of exercise is good for lymphoma patients.Byline: ANIWashington, Oct 28 (ANI): A regimen of aerobic exercise aerobic exercise, n sustained repetitive physical activity, such as walking, dancing, cycling, and swimming, that elevates the heart rate and increases oxygen consumption resulting in improved functioning of cardio-vascular and respiratory systems. training can prove fruitful for lymphoma patients receiving chemotherapy, says a new study. Researchers from University of Alberta researchers found that a healthy dose of aerobic exercise training produced significant improvements in physical functioning and overall quality of life benefits in patients with lymphoma. The Healthy Exercise for Lymphoma Patients (HELP) trial, a three-year study, was led by Kerry Courneya, Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) are Canadian university research professorships created through the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The program, established in 2000, is an integral part of a Government of Canada plan to drive Canadian research and development in physical activity and cancer in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. To reach the conclusion, researchers recruited 122 patients with Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma non-Hodg·kin's lymphoma n. Any of various malignant lymphomas characterized by the absence of Reed-Sternberg cells. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma , then stratified stratified /strat·i·fied/ (strat´i-fid) formed or arranged in layers. strat·i·fied adj. Arranged in the form of layers or strata. participants by disease type and treatment status; whether they were undergoing chemotherapy at the time or receiving no treatments. Participants were randomly assigned to an exercise program designed to maximize cardiovascular fitness cardiovascular fitness Fitness A benchmark of a subject's cardiovascular and respiratory 'reserve', assessed by exercise testing; improved CF ↓ risk of acute MI. See Aerobic exercise, Exercise, MET, Thallium stress test, Vigorous exercise. Cf Anaerobic exercise. or to usual care, which did not include an exercise component. Exercisers trained three times a week for 12 weeks and were encouraged to stay the course with behavioural support techniques that included perks like free parking, a well-equipped gym, flexible exercise schedules, variation in exercises, follow-up phone calls reminders and positive reinforcement positive reinforcement, n a technique used to encourage a desirable behavior. Also called positive feedback, in which the patient or subject receives encouraging and favorable communication from another person. by staff. Lymphoma patients who received the exercise intervention reported significantly improved physical functioning, overall quality of life, less fatigue, increased happiness, less depression and an improvement in lean body mass. Cardiovascular fitness in the exercise group improved by over 20 per cent. The group receiving chemotherapy benefited as much as the group that was off treatments. Perhaps most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , says Courneya, was that the vigorous intensity exercise program did not interfere with lymphoma patients' ability to complete their chemotherapy treatments or benefit from the treatments. He found that 46.4 per cent of patients in the exercise group had a complete response to their treatment (no evidence of disease) compared to only 30.8 per cent in the usual care group. Courneya cautions that the trial was not designed to look at this issue, but it at least suggests that lymphoma patients can achieve important health and quality of life benefits from exercise during treatment without worrying about compromising their treatment outcomes. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion