Benefits to Lifting Weights After Breast Cancer

For as many as two thirds of breast cancer survivors, their lifesaving cancer treatment can lead to an incurable and painful condition known as lymphedema. The condition commonly affects patients whose lymph nodes were removed during surgery, causing often debilitating swelling in the hands and arms because of lymph fluid buildup.

Doctors typically tell patients who have the chronic condition to avoid heavy lifting, since lymphedema can buy canada goose jacket flare up and cause infection easily. Many women canada goose outlet nyc are advised to not pick up their children, to not use heavy handbags or lift more than https://www.chinese-sharpei.de 10 15 lb. at a time and to limit exercise to milder forms such as walking, swimming and light aerobics. (See TIME’s special report on advances for breast cancer patients.)

Those rules can complicate everyday life, as Ethel Jefferson, 68, a breast cancer patient in cheap Canada Goose Philadelphia, learned firsthand. When her condition was diagnosed several months after her lumpectomy and radiation treatment, her doctor warned her against lifting more than 2 lb. with the affected arm. “Can you imagine going grocery canada goose clearance shopping?” she says. “I would ask someone at the store to lift my bags and then make sure someone would be home to help. You learn to compensate, but it was a challenge.”

But canada goose outlet online uk a new study suggests that doctors may be overlooking some significant benefits of heavy lifting activity for thousands of patients canada goose clearance sale like Jefferson. Published in the Aug. 13 canada goose outlet online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the study is the largest and longest of its kind to date. University of Pennsylvania researchers recruited 141 breast cancer patients with a diagnosis of stable lymphedema. Half of them participated in a biweekly 90 min. weight lifting program, which involved the slow, progressive addition of weight machines Canada Goose sale and free weights, up to as much weight as patients could comfortably lift; canada goose outlet sale the other half of the Canada Goose Jackets patients did not lift weights at all. (See how to prevent illness at any age.)

By the end of the yearlong study, official canada goose outlet the women who worked out were stronger than the non lifters some could bench press as much as 85 lb., while the majority were able to press dumbbells weighing more than 15 lb. and did not experience any more swelling than the nonlifting group. Indeed, the exercisers were more likely to report that their symptoms had improved, with half as many (14%) reporting flare ups as their counterparts (29%). Fewer flare canadian goose jacket ups, doctors say, means less physical therapy Canada Goose Online to treat them which means considerable savings in canada goose outlet canada patients’ time, money and discomfort. (Watch a video about fitness gadgets.)

Although some previous research had hinted at similar benefits of weight training, the overall lack of rigorous evidence to support it led doctors to take a conservative approach in recommending excess activity. “Because we didn’t have strong canada goose outlet parka data one way or another, there was this dictum that translated to, Don’t lift anything, or only minimally use your arm,” explains Dr. Brian Lawenda, a breast cancer radiation specialist at Naval Medical Center San Diego, who was not canada goose outlet reviews involved in the new study. “Hopefully this will be the last nail in the coffin for that kind of misguided advice,” she says. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2008.)

The merit of the weight lifting program beyond its health benefits is that it could be affordable and canada goose outlet uk sale accessible for breast cancer survivors, says Schmitz. The classes used in her study were designed to be easily canada goose outlet store replicated; they were offered at community locations like YMCA centers and taught by fitness coaches who underwent a short training period to learn to spot problematic symptoms.

Experts also foresee significant potential health care savings, based on the alleviation of symptoms among the study’s weight canada goose outlet training patients. Treatment of an exacerbated case of lymphedema requires specialized attention from physical canada goose outlet therapists including canada goose outlet in usa massage and compression bandaging expenses that many but not all insurance companies cover. For a patient with early stage lymphedema, an eight day course of therapy sessions can cost an average of $2,000, not including supplies and time spent by patients in daily sessions, according to the National Lymphedema Network. But if the new study leads to a shift in physicians’ recommendations, perhaps for some patients, that money can be spent pursuing activities instead of shying away from them.