Lymphedema Does Not Appear Because Of The Strength Exercises After The Removal Of Breast Cancer

Lymphedema Does Not Appear Because Of The Strength Exercises After The Removal Of Breast Cancer.
Contrary to common wisdom, lifting weights doesn't cause bust cancer survivors to bare the painful, arm-swelling condition known as lymphedema, green research suggests. There's a hint that weight-lifting might even help prevent lymphedema, but more on is needed to say that for sure, the researchers said. Breast cancer-related lymphedema is caused by an increase of lymph fluid after surgical removal of the lymph nodes and/or radiation. It is a dour condition that may cause arm swelling, awkwardness and discomfort.

And "Lymphedema is something women at the end of the day fear after breast cancer, and the guidance has been not to lift anything heavier even than a purse," said Kathryn H Schmitz, steer author of the study to be presented Wednesday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "But to effect women to not use that affected arm without giving them a prescription for a personal valet is an absurdist principle," she added.

A former study done by the same team of researchers found that exercise actually stabilized symptoms to each women who already had lymphedema. "We really wanted to put the last stamp on this to say, 'Hey, it is not only proper but may actually be good for their arms," said Schmitz, who is an associate professor of forebears medicine and community health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a member of the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

And "It's almost similarly to a paradigm shift," said Lee Jones, meticulous director of the Duke Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Survivorship in Durham, NC "Low-volume rebelliousness training does not exacerbate lymphedema". To see if a slowly progressive rehabilitation program using weights would aid the arm, 134 breast cancer survivors with at least two lymph nodes removed but no cartouche of lymphedema who had been diagnosed one to five years before entry in the study were randomly selected to participate in one of two groups.

The to begin group involved light weight-lifting (starting at 1 to 2 pounds and slowly progressing) for 13 weeks under the instruction of a trainer at a limited community fitness center (usually a YMCA). The women then practiced the exercises at domicile for another nine months. The other group didn't exercise.

At the end of one year, 11 percent of women who lifted weights developed lymphedema, compared to 17 percent in the authority over group. Among women who had undergone more desperate treatment (five or more lymph nodes removed), 7 percent of those who exercised developed lymphoma, versus 22 percent in the other group.

Although the workroom was designed mainly to overlook at the exercise program's safety, Schmitz said it was her "very strong position that it should be standard of circumspection for breast cancer patients to be referred to a physical therapist for any of myriad arm and shoulder problems that happen after heart cancer, not just lymphedema". "About half of survivors have arm or shoulder problems after treatment," she said.

But this learning and the previous one shouldn't lead women to try the exercises on their own at home. "There are some caveats," Jones said. "This inspect was in breast cancer patients who had started remedy at least one year after treatment. We don't know how the results of this might change based on women who have recently undergone surgery".

Also, "this is a truly low level of resistance training," he added. "It's not where they're pushing the envelope. It's perseveringly to know from this study what the serious threshold is totkay. Is this resistance training only on the lighter side or can you go on to more moderate training?" The over findings will also be reported in the Dec 22/29, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.