A team from Zaragoza led by Huesca researcher Lucía Sagarradoctor in Physical Activity Sciences and graduated in Nursing, has just published in the prestigious scientific magazine ‘Supportive cancer care’ The results of a study showing the Benefits of physical exercise in survivors of breast cancer.
Within the framework of this investigation, which began in January 2020, a a free training program aimed at patients with breast cancer -stage I-III- who were undergoing prolonged hormonal treatment. “Initially it was thought to be carried out at the headquarters of the Zaragoza association Amac-gema, but Due to the circumstances of the pandemic, everything went online“, says Sagarra, who positively highlights the adherence of these volunteers to the programme, as well as the involvement of the team of professionals who have made this study possible.
“There has been a lot of research that has been paralyzed by covid, and in this case we decided to move forward. It was 16 weeks, and we did two days a week of guided work with strength exercises, cardiovascular work, etc. The good thing about all this is that since we started recruiting women between January and February 2020, it gave us time to buy heart rate monitors before the health crisis, which allowed me to control the intensities very well from home,” says this researcher from the Saint George University.
As part of the program, twenty volunteers from the Aragonese Association of Genital and Breast Cancer (Amac-gema) carried out one hour a day (twice a week) of training, which consisted of a part of activation and warm-up, the main part of moderate physical exercise and a return to calm.
“The strength exercise They did it twice a week and took advantage of the material they themselves had at home: chairs, water bottles, furniture… For cardio, those who had a stationary bike could use it, and those who didn’t use the stairs. If there was no possibility, we did it through choreographies or dances that I sent them to do at home”, details Sagarra, who always insisted that his patients comply with the general recommendations established by the WHO to practice at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day.
Once the training routine was completed, this researcher and her team performed a daily follow up of how the patients had met, that they were expressing their sensations, impressions and other data that were required for the study through a group of WhatsApp. “We made an initial assessment that was carried out pre-pandemic and a final assessment when the confinement restrictions began to relax. In total – Sagarra specifies – 15 women concluded the study. Those who were discharged were due to coronavirus, either because they were hospitalized or they caught the virus,” he adds.
María José Rivas, president of the Zaragoza association Amac-gema, was one of the participants in the studio, which he had to leave – account – after detecting a heart problem. “Me I had to withdraw because an anomaly was detected in the studyand I’m still taking a pill for arrhythmias. If I had not participated in the study, I would not have realized, because I am not aware that it happens to me. But according to what the oncologist told me, it was derived from radiation,” says this Zaragoza woman, who praises the training program launched with other association volunteers. Most of them, he explains, were people “who had not done physical activity” at least since the detection of this pathology. “Lucía controlled our weight, she did some diagnostic tests, and all patients had in common that they were not active. Then the confinement caught up with us, and since there were three or four months of the program, the first ones were held at the association’s headquarters, but then we had to close due to health recommendations,” he recalls.
Positive results despite confinement
Los results of the study ‘COVID-19: Effects of an online training program on female breast cancer survivors in times of pandemic‘which were published a few weeks ago in the prestigious scientific journal ‘Supportive cancer care’ show the Benefits that the training program had in this group of patients and volunteers.
The main gains made by these women in full confinement concern not only the body weight (by not increasing it in this period), but also to a significant increase in muscle mass in the legsto strength improvement of manual grip and the improvement of aerobic capacity, all quantified through different field tests.
“In the case, for example, of fat and muscle was measured through a densitometry in the laboratorywhich is one of the most precise tools for measuring body weight”, indicates this researcher, who praises the results obtained within the framework of this program, emphasizing that it would not have been possible without the commitment and adherence of all its volunteers.
“In full confinement, when we couldn’t do anything and everyone took to making cakes at home, It is a very big achievement because these women gained muscle and improved physical tests without gaining weight or gaining fat“, he points out.
A consolidated “habit of life”
From the Aragonese association Amac-gema They also pointed out, on the occasion of the return of the Solidarity March to the Big Park, the “paradigm shift” that there have been regarding the recommendations by doctors, increasingly inclined to “prescribe” sport to these women.
“It is important that physical exercise is not only present in the treatment phase to reduce side effects, but it has to be a consolidated life habit”
Sagarra, for his part, points out that There is scientific evidence that physical exerciseeither during cancer treatment or already in the survival phase, produce improvements that have been tested in aspects related to quality of life, reduction of fatigue, improvement and control of symptoms derived from the treatment, the improvement of functional capacity and other aspects related to anxiety and depression. However, he stresses that there are certain difficulties in this regard, as a recent study shows. “Recently, a very powerful article was also published that points out that one of the barriers for cancer patients is not being able to do physical exercise the limited knowledge about the specific guidelines and the lack of resources to guide and prescribe these trainings by doctors”, reports this researcher, who gives some recommendations for those who find themselves in a process of this type. Among other activities, she is committed to coordinated strength and cardio trainingand insists on the importance of doing muscle workin this case force, because it has been shown that, in the case of cancer patients, the muscle will have immunomodulatorsas it is an organ that is capable of releasing substances with antitumor powers and of modifying, at a physiological level, the tumor environment, since it is supplied with the same substrate that the tumor feeds on.
“We know that for women with breast cancer, recurrences (relapses) are caused by a secondary cardiovascular disease that can be derived from radiotherapy treatments. In this sense, physical exercise and the immunomodulatory power of muscle will be able to attenuate that chronic inflammation that is associated with obesity. In female survivors, the risk of relapse or premature death is attributed to cardiovascular disease, and hence the importance of physical exercise not only being present in the treatment phase to reduce side effects, but it has to be a consolidated life habit to avoid a late-onset secondary disease“, concludes this scientist.
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