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Physical activity for cancer patients: a practical guide to safe exercise before, during and after therapy

Download the booklet for hints, ideas and motivations to perform a regular physical activity and improve your quality of life.

It is a well-known fact that the risk of developing certain types of cancer can be reduced by practicing physical exercise on a regular basis, however an increasing number of studies show that physical activity is also beneficial in people with established disease.

In the past, people treated for cancer were advised by their doctors to be at rest and reduce physical activity to a minimum. These recommendations have been largely overtaken by recent scientific findings.

Experts now agree that practicing physical exercise during and after cancer treatment is not only a safe, risk-free activity, but it can also improve physical functioning and the quality of life.

It has been shown that regular physical activity, performed under the supervision of the treating oncologist, increases patient’s resistance, sense of well-being and self-esteem, and can reverse some of the side effects associated with cancer or cancer treatment, including fatigue, depression and weight problems.

For these reasons, the experts recommend that people with cancer avoid inactivity and follow a healthy, physically active lifestyle, while oncologists are invited to promote physical activity as a component of cancer therapy.

During the last few years, scientific research has gone further by investigating the existence of closer associations between physical activity and the type of cancer diagnosed to patients.

Several studies have shown that individuals who had cancer and remained physically active were at lower risk of relapse and survived longer than inactive people.

This booklet contains hints, ideas and motivations to practice a safe physical activity before, during and after cancer treatments, and provides a clear description of the related benefits along with practical suggestions to help patients move toward healing and self-awareness.

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