HHS HealthBeat (September 17, 2007)

Breast cancer and active living

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Being active after being diagnosed with breast cancer seems to make a big difference in the quality of a woman’s life. Researcher Catherine Alfano of Ohio State University found that in data on some 500 breast cancer survivors.

``Survivors who increased their sports activity or their recreational physical activity after diagnosis had lower fatigue and lower pain.’’ (10 seconds)

Alfano can’t be sure more vigorous activity will bring more benefit in any particular woman. But she says some activity does seem to help many -- 30 minutes of moderate intensity walking often can make an improvement.

Physical activity before diagnosis didn’t make a difference. What happened after diagnosis did.

The study in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September, 17 2007