Exercise, Nutrition And Cancer: Preventative And Adjuvant Therapy

Exercise And Nutrition That Fight Cancer

Exercise and supplementation of certain nutrients can act as preventative therapy. Regular exercise has been shown to prevent breast cancer, colon cancer, and rectal cancer and some evidence even shows preventative effects on lung cancer. Small, as yet inconclusive data, further suggests that exercise and good nutrition can help reduce incidence of pancreatic cancer.

This is most likely due to the substantial role high intensity exercise has in increasing immune system activity, regulating cell growth and even increasing the efficiency of how old or damaged cells are destroyed.

ln terms of nutrition, several studies show an association between higher fruit and vegetable intakes and a reduced risk of pancreatic, colon, lung and breast cancer. In some cases this reduction was aided by meat consumption, which could indicate an important role for consuming adequate protein. Multivitamin supplements may be beneficial as well, but the research on this is not as conclusive as with fruit and vegetable intake.

This protective effect could stem from a number of reasons, due to the large amount of beneficial nutrients that fruit and vegetables contain. However, one possible mechanism could be the increase in efficiency of the cell's chemical reactions, which include energy processing and cell destruction, a necessary process known as apoptosis that eliminates damaged cells from the body. This could be due to the vitamins and minerals aiding these chemical reactions in the body by speeding up their process. 

Unsaturated fats like omega 3 fats have also been suggested to reduce the risk of breast cancer, possibly due to the positive effect they have on the health of the immune system. However, overall cancer risk reduction was not found when international studies were reviewed. These studies, though far from conclusive, offer some encouragement for keeping fruit, vegetable and healthy fat intake high, while keeping protein adequate to match your lifestyle.

Cancer related fatigue and cancer related anorexia, which defines the undernourishment and consequent muscle wasting of cancer patients, was also shown to be improved with exercise. It has also been shown to improve remission rates, reducing the likelihood of certain cancers from returning. Even in prostate cancer treatment, where testosterone is suppressed, resistance training, which usually elevates testosterone, seemed to have no disruptive effect on treatment, while patient outcome was still improved.

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Once again, moderate to vigorous exercise usually proved both safe and effective, with most studies’ exercise intensity being around 60-80% of patients’ 1 Repetition Maximum or V02Max, which is a measure of a person's maximum aerobic work capacity. Again, these benefits seem to stem from the mechanisms discussed above, that of improved immune system function, and from the added muscle mass retained from exercise.

These benefits were also seen with certain nutritional protocols. While vitamin and mineral supplementation seems to have little effect, omega-3 supplementation has been shown to help improve liver and pancreatic function and recovery time in postoperative cancer patients. There may not be any additional benefit to cancer related anorexia, though they have been shown to help preserve muscle mass during cancer treatment, and, in some cases, improve response to chemotherapy. It can also help immune system function in undernourished cancer patients, and prolong survival time.

Cancer: Key Facts About Therapy And Treatment

So, overall, a person’s nutritional habits and the exercise they do can have a substantial impact on not only the likelihood of contracting some cancers but also in reducing complications and improving outcome during treatment for cancer. It also seems beneficial in improving the time needed to recover and the quality of recovery after treatment.

However, omega-3 fat supplementation may prove very beneficial during treatment. In closing, while some useful information is now beginning to emerge with regards to exercise, nutrition and cancer, with cancer being one of the most diverse diseases in existence and the second highest killer in the USA, there is a clear need for more research in this area.

Therapy and Treatment: Conventional, Preventative, Adjuvant, and Alternative

When discussing therapy in potentially life-threatening illnesses, it is vital to distinguish between conventional, adjuvant, preventative and alternative therapy. It is also important to distinguish between treatment, which is usually associated with the intention cure or permanently improve an individual’s medical situation or outcome, and therapy, which is generally associated with rehabilitation and increasing overall, general wellbeing.

Conventional therapy and treatment is a term normally used to define the traditional methods of treating an illness or disease. It’s basically the standard medical practice in most Western and developed nations and includes a variety of treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation treatment, stem cell transplantation and surgery. Put simply, these are the methods of therapy you will experience if you go to a hospital or a doctor. These have also been shown in research to be the most effective methods of treatment that exist today.

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Alternative therapy, usually associated with homeopathy or natural remedies, is a broad definition which describes pretty much any significant deviation from conventional treatments to an illness. This is usually done instead of conventional therapy, or in tandem with the conventional therapy, known as complementary alternative medicine. In terms of cancer treatment, alternative therapy use has been both quite prevalent in cancer patients, and on the rise in recent years, despite the lack of evidence that any of these therapies are effective. In truth, an entire article could be written on this subject alone, so for now the definitions and differences in the evidence supporting their effectiveness, which will be discussed shortly, will have to suffice.

Preventative medicine or therapy, as the name implies, is carried out to try prevent either the primary illness or disease from occurring or, commonly in cancer, to help prevent secondary complications from occurring once the initial illness or disease is contracted.

Adjuvant therapy are protocols or practices that are done either alongside conventional cancer treatments or done immediately after the main treatment protocol in order to improve the outcome of the treatment or to prevent the chance of the illness, cancer in this case, from recurring.