After Breast Cancer

…Follow up care is very important to maintain good health, manage side-effects from treatment and avoid cancer recurrence.

October is designated as International Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Its purpose is to promote awareness of breast cancer issues and educate and empower women to take charge of their own breast health.

In this article, we discuss the importance of exercise and diet in a breast cancer survivor’s life.

FITNESS AFTER BREAST CANCER

Regular exercise is an important part of being as healthy as you can be. More and more research shows that exercise improves physical functioning, quality of life and cancer-related fatigue, and there is also evidence that exercise can help breast cancer survivors live longer and lead a more active life.

Here, we tell you all about the benefits of exercise for people diagnosed with breast cancer, and the types of exercise they can do…

Benefits

You’ll lower your cancer risk. Regular exercise lowers the risk of breast cancer coming back, as well as reduces the risk of ever being diagnosed with breast cancer. Exercise also can lower your risk of cancers of the colon, lung and uterus.

You’ll be able to maintain a healthy weight. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight by building muscle and burning fat. Overweight and obese women have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer compared to women who maintain a healthy weight, especially after menopause. Being overweight can also increase the risk of the breast cancer coming back (recurrence) in women who have had the disease.

This higher risk is because fat cells make estrogen; extra fat cells mean more estrogen in the body and estrogen can make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers develop and grow.