As an oncologist with years of experience, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of cancer on individuals and their loved ones. Cancer is a complex disease that not only affects physical health but also takes a toll on emotional and mental well-being. In the pursuit of combating cancer, it is imperative that we emphasize the significance of wellness. Integrating wellness into cancer care not only enhances the overall quality of life but also complements medical treatments, leading to better outcomes and empowering patients on their journey toward recovery. 

In this blog, we will explore the profound importance of wellness in the context of cancer care.

Holistic Approach to Care:

The concept of wellness encompasses more than just physical health. It encompasses a holistic approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit. In cancer care, this holistic approach becomes even more vital. By addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of patients, we create an environment that fosters healing and resilience. 

At 4CancerWellness, a holistic approach is at the foundation of our company. We call it our 4Cornerstones: Activity, Nutrition, Mindset, & Support. 

Physical Well-being:

Maintaining physical health during cancer treatment can be challenging due to the side effects of treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. However, incorporating strategies to promote physical well-being is crucial. Regular exercise, tailored to an individual’s capabilities, can help reduce treatment-related side effects, improve energy levels, and boost overall endurance. A balanced diet, rich in essential nutrients, supports the body’s healing process and helps combat treatment-related weight loss or gain. Adequate rest and sleep are essential for the body to recover and regenerate.

To emphasize, maintaining a healthy weight through proper nutrition and activity is crucial for cancer patients. Significant weight loss can have a significant impact on treatment effectiveness, treatment tolerance, and quality of life.  Obesity is a risk factor for cancer recurrence and/or a risk for developing other types of cancer. By working with healthcare professionals, patients can receive guidance on achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, promoting better treatment outcomes, and reducing the risk of cancer recurrence.

Nutritional Wellness:

Proper nutrition plays a pivotal role in supporting the body’s ability to heal and recover during treatment. Cancer treatments can sometimes cause appetite loss, taste changes, vomiting, or difficulty swallowing, making it challenging for patients to meet their nutritional needs. However, by working closely with an oncology dietitian, patients can receive personalized dietary recommendations to help manage treatment side effects and maintain optimal nutrition.

A balanced plant-focused diet rich in nutrients, including lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats – and avoiding processed foods and sugars – provides the necessary fuel for the body’s immune system, aiding in its ability to fight against cancer and minimize treatment-related complications. In some cases, specific dietary modifications may be recommended to address specific treatment side effects, such as incorporating high-fiber foods to manage constipation or consuming a softer diet to improve nutritional intake when experiencing a sore throat.

Emotional and Mental Well-being:

The emotional and mental well-being of cancer patients often gets overlooked, but it plays a fundamental role in their overall wellness. Cancer diagnosis and treatment can trigger a range of emotions, including fear, anxiety, depression, and uncertainty. It is essential to provide a supportive environment that addresses these emotional challenges. Incorporating counseling, support groups, and psychotherapy can help patients navigate their emotional journey, cope with stress, and build resilience.

Spiritual and Mind-Body Connection:

Nurturing the spiritual aspect of wellness can have a profound impact on patients’ coping mechanisms and overall well-being. Engaging in activities such as meditation, mindfulness, or connecting with one’s faith can provide solace, inner strength, and a sense of purpose. The mind-body connection should not be underestimated. Techniques like yoga, tai chi, and deep breathing exercises can help reduce stress, improve relaxation, and enhance overall mental and physical well-being.

Quality of Life and Survivorship:

Cancer care should aim not only to treat the disease but also to optimize patients’ quality of life during and after treatment. Integrating wellness strategies throughout the cancer care continuum contributes to enhancing the overall patient experience. Promoting wellness not only helps patients manage treatment-related side effects but also empowers them to actively participate in their care, fostering a sense of control and hope. Additionally, addressing survivorship concerns by promoting ongoing wellness practices supports patients in their transition from active treatment to a new chapter of life.

Collaboration with a Multidisciplinary Team:

The incorporation of wellness strategies in cancer care requires a collaborative effort. Oncologists, nurses, psychologists, dietitians, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals work together to provide comprehensive patient support. By integrating wellness into cancer care, we create a team-based approach that addresses the diverse needs of each patient.

Wellness should be an integral component of cancer care, as it profoundly impacts patients’ physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. By adopting a holistic approach to cancer treatment, we can improve outcomes, enhance quality of life, and empower patients on their journey toward recovery. Through the integration of physical health, emotional support, and spiritual connection, we can truly provide comprehensive care to individuals fighting cancer. Let us recognize the importance of wellness and work together to make it an essential part of cancer care across the globe!

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“Every system in your body relies on physical activity”, says an article written by the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Did you know, staying active on a daily basis will not only make you feel better, but it will also allow you to do better?

Activity is simply the act of allowing our body to function properly, which of course, includes all of the complicated systems that make up our bodies.

An article titled, Physical Activity, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), says, “Regular physical activity is proven to help prevent AND manage noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several cancers. It also helps prevent hypertension, maintain healthy body weight and can improve mental health, quality of life, and well-being.”

With that being said, maybe you have heard something along those lines before. Maybe, you have even given exercise a try but just didn’t seem to get those great results that are oftentimes read about. If this is the case, you are not alone.

It is extremely difficult to receive every benefit of physical activity until you fully understand WHAT changes activity will make on the body/mind and HOW these changes in the body/mind are so beneficial.

Basically, it all comes down to four words and two concepts, Flexibility and Range of Motion (ROM).

What is Range of Motion?

ROM is the measurement of the amount of movement around a specific joint or body part. Often taken by a physical therapist, he/she uses a device, called a goniometer, that calculates the angular distance of different bodily/joint movements. These measurements can be recorded passively, active-assisted, and/or actively.

• Passive – occurs around a joint you are not using your muscles to move.
• Active-assisted – occurs when you move your own body part, but assistance is required to ensure injury/damage does not occur. Mainly used during therapy for an injury, or on someone elderly.
• Active – occurs when you use your muscles to move the specific joint/body part without any assistance.

What is Flexibility?

Flexibility is the ability of a joint or series of joints to move through an unrestricted/unassisted, pain-free range of motion. In other words, flexibility is the actively recorded version of the ROM measurement process and improved flexibility is the ultimate goal when increasing our Range of Motion.

“Although flexibility inevitably will widely vary from person to person, a minimum range of motion is necessary for one to maintain joint and total body health.” Flexibility, by UC Davis Sports Medicine.

How Do We Lose Our Flexibility/Range of Motion Over Time?

This question can simply be answered by a short phrase I found in an article titled Maintaining Flexibility With Aging, written by Victoria Bowen, PT, DPT, “Use It or Lose It”.

As our society continues to advance technologically, our lives have become increasingly more sedentary, mainly due to motorized transport and high hours of screen time required by most jobs. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), levels of inactivity are twice as high in high-income countries compared to low-income countries.

WHO recommends any adult aged 18-64 should do at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. Along with 2 muscle-strengthening activities at a moderate or greater intensity that involve all major muscle groups per week.

Keep in mind, these recommendations are only minimums, The WHO suggests anybody may increase these durations/frequencies for additional health benefits. But, most importantly, one should limit the time spent being sedentary and replace this time with physical activity as our health desperately depends on it.

What Are The Negative Effects Of Inflexibility/Limited ROM?

Physical inactivity, which leads to inflexible/limited muscles, is the leading risk factor for mortality in noncommunicable diseases. In fact, people who are insufficiently active have a 20-30% increased risk of death compared to people who exercise regularly.

In children, a lack of physical activity can lead to physical problems (i.e. cardiovascular, muscular, blood pressure, bone health, etc.), cognitive outcomes (academic performance/executive function), mental health (depression/anxiety), etc.

The biggest negative effect from inactivity most people don’t understand is directly related to mental health.

How to Regain/Increase Our Activity/Flexibility/ROM?

The first step in preventing our loss of flexibility/ROM is committing to an active lifestyle. There are so many tools available to help reach our goals, but not one of them will work until we decide this is something we want to do.

The second step is getting active! Consistency is the ultimate key, and here are a few tips provided by the CDC that may help one’s accountability in being consistent:

1. Get the support of your friends and family-and invite them to get active with you!
2. Start slowly and add time, frequency, or intensity every week.
3. Schedule physical activity for times in the day or week when you’re most energetic.
4. Plan ahead. Make physical activity part of your daily or weekly schedule.
5. Walk instead of drive to nearby destinations, or park the car farther away and fit in a walk to your destination.
6. Support improvements in your neighborhood that make it easier to walk or bike to where you want to go.

What Is the Minimum ROM We Must Maintain To Remain Healthy?

We should be able to move the joints in our bodies in different directions, so we can accomplish various basic tasks in our lives. This ability to move is also essential for us to stay healthy.

The four different joint movements include:

1. Extension – Straightening a joint
2. Flexion – Bending a joint
3. Abduction – Movement away from the center of your body
4. Adduction – Movement back to the center of the body

The two different joint types include:

1. Ball-and-Socket Joint – like your shoulders, are able to move in many different directions
2. Hinge Joint – like your knees/elbows, are designed to close and open in one direction.

Commonly used ROM measurements can be found anywhere and are used to measure, in units of degrees, how much range of motion a particular joint possesses.

Citations

https://www.mdanderson.org/prevention-screening/manage-your-risk/physical-activity.html

https://health.ucdavis.edu/sportsmedicine/resources/flexibility_descriprion.html

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity

https://www.verywellhealth.com/overview-range-of-motion-2696650

https://www.pedagogy-inc.com/Home/News/Difference-Between-Flexibility-and-Range-of-Motion.aspx

https://arapc.com/maintaining-flexibility-with-aging/

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/exercises-after-mastectomy

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273886/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-normal-range-of-motion-in-a-joint-3120361

https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/physical-activity.htm

The National Cancer Institute released an article concerning this regard. They say, “exercise has many biological effects on the body, some of which have been proposed to explain associations with specific cancers. These include:

• Lowering the levels of sex hormones, such as estrogen, and growth factors that have been associated with cancer development and progression
• Preventing high blood levels of insulin, which has been linked to cancer development and progression
• Reducing inflammation
• Improving immune system function
• Altering the metabolism of bile acids, decreasing exposure of the gastrointestinal tract to these suspected carcinogens
• Reducing the time it takes for food to travel through the digestive system, which decreases gastrointestinal tract exposure to possible carcinogens
• Helping to prevent obesity, which is a risk factor for many cancers”

Is Physical Activity Beneficial to Cancer Patients/Survivors?

Yes. In a report titled, Exercise Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, KL Campbell et al. explains, “that exercise training and testing are generally safe for cancer survivors and that every survivor should maintain some level of physical activity.” In addition, the report also mentions:

• Strong evidence that moderate-intensity aerobic training and/or resistance exercise during and after cancer treatment can reduce anxiety, depressive symptoms, and fatigue and improve health-related quality of life and physical function.
• Strong evidence that exercise training is safe in persons who have or might develop breast-cancer-related lymphedema.
• Some evidence that exercise is beneficial for bone health and sleep quality.
• And, findings have raised the possibility that physical activity may have beneficial effects on survival for patients with breast, colorectal, and/or prostate cancer.

In another article published by the American Cancer Society, titled Physical Activity and the Person with Cancer, the opening two paragraphs state,

“Research shows that for most people exercise is safe and helpful before, during, and after cancer treatment. It can help improve your quality of life as well as the energy you have to do the things you like. Physical activity may also help you cope with side effects of treatment and possibly decrease your risk of new cancers in the future.

Too much time spent resting or sitting can cause loss of body function, muscle weakness, and reduced range of motion. Many cancer care teams are urging their patients to be as physically active as possible before, during and after cancer treatment.”

The American Cancer Society’s Physical Activity Recommendations for Cancer Survivors

1. Avoid inactivity, as best as possible, and return to normal daily activities as soon as possible after diagnosis and treatment(s).
2. Regularly participate in physical activity
3. Start slowly, build up the amount of physical activity progressively over time.
4. The weekly goal for physical activity to build up to is 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.
5. To achieve this, exercise several times a week, for at least 10 minutes at a time.
6. Include two days of resistance training per week.
7. Also, do stretching exercises at least two days per week.

Again, too much time spent resting or sitting can cause loss of body function, muscle weakness, and reduced range of motion. It is understandable, especially for cancer patients going through treatment, oftentimes one may not feel like exercising. But, most would be amazed at how much better 10 minutes of simple exercise can make one feel, no matter the situation.

Want support with activity throughout your cancer journey??

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By Blake Schunk

Citations

• Physical Activity and Cancer Fact Sheet
• Campbell KL, Winters-Stone KM, Wiskemann J, et al. Exercise guidelines for cancer survivors: Consensus statement from International Multidisciplinary Roundtable. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2019; 51(11):2375-2390. [PubMed Abstract]
• Physical Activity and the Person with Cancer – American Cancer Society