Australian Experts Suggest Cancer Patients For Exercise

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Canberra - When Nicole Cooper, an Australian, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer last year, she started going to the gym a lot.

On the sidelines of chemotherapy and surgery lived, 33-year-old woman began to actively run and lift the load.

"Realizing that I'm in control of something I can handle, it gets me excited," he told ABC.

"A lot of things we do not know about cancer, but it's something I do," he added.

Nicole is one example of a new trend in cancer treatment. A number of doctors advise cancer patients to exercise in addition to the treatment they undergo.

Currently a number of Australian cancer experts even take it a step further. They are calling for exercise to be prescribed as part of cancer care.

Experts joined in the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) in a report titled Exercise in Cancer Care, asking doctors to prescribe certain exercises and refer patients to sports specialists who are experienced in cancer care.

The statement was supported by dozens of health organizations, including Cancer Council and Peter MacCallum Cancer Center. The COSA report has also been published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof. Prue Cormie says exercise is "confirmed" beneficial for cancer patients. (ABC News: Patrick Wood)

"We are reaching a stage where the evidence is irrefutable, delaying exercise for patients may be dangerous," said Associate Professor Prue Cormie, lead author of the COSA report.

"For example, we can change the benefits of exercising to be a medicine pill, then surely it will be asked the patient, would be prescribed by every cancer specialist and will be subsidized by the government," he said.

"This will be seen as a major breakthrough in cancer treatment," added Prof. Cormie.

The COSA statement says most cancer patients do not meet the recommended exercise. The agency suggests:

Exercise with moderate intensity for 150 minutes or high intensity aerobic exercise for 75 minutes each week (eg walking, jogging, cycling, swimming).
Resistance exercises (weightlifting) are two to three times each week from moderate intensity to high intensity by targeting the major muscles.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Center head David Speakman assessed the COSA statement as a significant step in cancer treatment.

"The notion that we should protect patients, wrap them with cotton, is outdated and unsupported by research," he said.

"Our attitude in treating cancer must be changed, all cancer patients will benefit from exercise," he explained.

Meanwhile, Nicole Cooper said he now focuses on exercise as well as chemotherapy. He even went straight to the gym after a chemo.

He called these two "potentially life-saving" and now his condition is progressing.

"I've been doing my best in the gym since being diagnosed with cancer," he said.

"Cancer is a life-and-death struggle, as soon as you get hit, you seem to be out of it," Nicole said.

"You have to manage your life in order to live as well as possible, which is what I am living now," he added.