The Benefits of Exercise After Breast Cancer

(RxWiki News) Aerobic exercise and resistance training could help women who have survived breast cancer live longer, according to a new study.

This research found that exercise among survivors of breast cancer could reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even breast cancer recurrence.

The top cause of death for those who have survived breast cancer isn’t cancer — it’s heart disease, according to the authors of this study. Breast cancer has a somewhat high survival rate, but many women gain weight while undergoing treatment, these researchers noted. And being overweight or obese can raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

This study of 100 women who survived breast cancer found that a mix of aerobic and resistance training could help survivors reduce their risk of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome includes high body fat, raised blood pressure and high triglycerides. Women who had metabolic syndrome were three times as likely as those who didn’t to experience breast cancer recurrence, these study authors noted.

The women in this study who exercised saw decreased body fat and increased muscle, as well as lower blood pressure. Fifteen percent of the women who exercised had metabolic syndrome at the end of the study. For the women who didn’t exercise, that figure was 80 percent.

The program in this study involved 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week for 16 weeks, in addition to resistance training with weights. Speak with your health care provider before starting any new exercise regimen.

This study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The National Cancer Institute and National Center for Advancing Translational Science funded this research. Two authors of this study disclosed they had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.