Posted on 2 August, 2011
Exercise is known to help with our overall health and preventing certain diseases. Many doctors recommend having a daily workout routine that you can do to ensure good health. Exercise is also recommended by doctors to patients but on a strict recommendation. Cancer patients who are either recovering or under going radiation or chemotherapy benefit a lot from working out. It is important to ask your doctor before doing any exercise because there are several precautions that need to be done and counterindications that have to be checked to ensure the patient's safety. A cancer patient's number one problem is fatigue which is a common symptom during therapy. The fatigue cancer patients experience may be caused by the cancer itself, insomnia, the cancer treatment or even anxiety. Cardio exercises help get rid of the feeling of fatigue although it may cause you to think that it will get you tired. Cardio exercises help improve your stamina which in turn makes you stronger and lowering the cases of fatigue you can get during therapy. It also helps improve circulation which helps flush out toxins. Improved circulation ensures that you have the right amount of red blood cells in your body. Radiation therapy reduces red blood cell levels that lead to anemia but that can be helped with exercise. Red blood cells are important because they carry oxygen needed by our organs. Cancer patients suffer a lot from the side effects of the therapy that they receive but those side effects can be reduced when you exercise. Nausea is the most common side effect of chemotherapy and that can be prevented with exercise because it increases our heart rate allowing better circulation of the oxygen in our blood that fights nausea and weakness. Most chronic patients experience a form of depression one way or another and cancer patients are not an exception. This is normally because of the changes in the body caused by either the illness or the therapy. This can be batteled with exercise as this helps reduce stress and depression levels with the endorphins released while we are working out. As mentioned earlier, cardio exercises are the recommended form of exercise for cancer patients as per a doctor's recommendation. It is important that the exercise start from a low to moderate intensity so the patient can adjust and, like most workouts, the difficulty can gradually increase. If the patient is under going therapy, it is understandable if there are days that they are not able to meet their target. The important thing is to still get a workout and to work around any symptom that the therapy may cause. Everyone needs exercise, even those who in the hospital who are getting help. Don't forget that old saying, how can others help you if you do not help yourself. |
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