14 DAY TRIAL // Specialist Brionna Hair and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the United States have recently made a rather startling discovery. Long story short, they have found that most breast cancer patients fail to get enough exercise.
In a paper in the journal Cancer, the researchers detail that, according to their investigations into the matter at hand, just 35% of breast cancer patients in the United States get as much exercise as recommended following their being diagnosed.
What's more, it appears that, about 6 months after being given the news that they are suffering from breast cancer, the majority of patients, i.e. 59%, become less interested in physical activity than they were prior to diagnosis.
In the case of these people who start exercising less after being diagnosed with breast cancer, the average drop in physical activity rates was documented to be one of about 15 metabolic equivalent hours, EurekAlert informs.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with sciency talk, these 15 metabolic equivalent hours boil down to cutting one's weekly exercise routine by about 5 hours of brisk walking, Brionna Hair and fellow researchers detail in the journal Cancer.
The problem with failing to get enough exercise after being diagnosed with breast cancer is that, as shown by previous studies, physical activity can not only help people suffering with this condition live longer, but can also improve one's quality of life.
Hence, it might not be such a bad idea of doctors and cancer specialists were to take the time and talk to patients about why it is important that they remain active even after receiving the news that they are suffering with breast cancer.
“Medical care providers should discuss the role physical activity plays in improving breast cancer outcomes with their patients, and strategies that may be successful in increasing physical activity among breast cancer patients need to be comprehensively evaluated and implemented,” Ms. Hair says.
In case anyone was wondering, the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States recommends that people exercise moderately at least 150 minutes or engage in intense physical activity for 75 minutes on a weekly basis.
Together with folks at the American Cancer Society, specialists with the Department of Health and Human Services argue that these 150 or 75 minutes (maybe a combination of both) of weekly exercise can not only improve one's general wellbeing, but also reduce the risk for various diseases.