While cancer and its treatments like chemotherapy are known to take a toll on patients’ moods, researchers are showing that exercise can lift their spirits.
Exercising has often been shown to have a positive impact on the mood of young cancer patients. But few studies have looked at its impact on elderly patients. However, most new cancer diagnoses affect people aged 60 or over. A team of researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center therefore looked into the matter and published their results in the magazine Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Cancer increases the risk of anxiety or experiencing mood swings, which can impact patients’ social and emotional well-being. In some cases, this can even cause them to stop their treatment and therefore reduce their chance of recovery.
Chemotherapy, for example, often has greater side effects with age, but many anti-anxiety medications are recognized as potentially inappropriate for elderly patients. This is why it is necessary to seek alternative treatments for these mood disorders, in particular non-drug treatments.
Simple exercises to do at home
The researchers therefore became interested in the program Exercise for Cancer Patients (EXCAP) which offers aerobic exercises to do at home, from low to medium intensity. Patients who participated in the study received a kit containing a pedometer, three exercise bands (normal, heavy and extra heavy) and an instruction manual.
During the program, they gradually increased the intensity and duration of their exercise sessions. Each participant also received a detailed individual program for walking and resistance exercises. They were encouraged to steadily increase their effort. The study concludes that low- to moderate-intensity exercise, at home, can improve anxiety, mood, and emotional and social well-being in elderly cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Cancer in France
These results are all the more important since a report by the National Cancer Institute (INCa) and Public Health France shows an increase in the number of new cases of cancer in mainland France, even if mortality has fallen. In 2018, the number of new cases of cancer is estimated at 382,000 (respectively 54% in men, 46% in women) and at 157,400 the number of cancer deaths (57% in men, 43% in women).
