“Multiple myeloma patients who’ve been told to rest and avoid exercise can – and should – find ways to be physically active both during and after treatment, according to new national guidelines.
In many ways, the most effective (and inexpensive) multiple myeloma therapy is frequent, moderate exercise. I say moderate because many of us MM patients have bone involvement. We have to be careful about managing our bone health.
Multiple Myeloma – Exercise
Let’s be honest. Exercise is difficult for most people. If we are undergoing chemo or radiation, the LAST thing we feel like doing is exercising. Even moderate exercise such as walking around the block every day.
But let me be clear. Research and personal experience has taught me that frequent, moderate exercise is a critical multiple myeloma therapy. I’m not talking about serious or strenuous exercise. I’m talking about walking or swimming laps. When I lift weights, I lift no more than 20 lbs.
My 91 year old mom likes to reminisce that when I was born back in ’59, the standard hospital stay for new moms was two weeks. Yep, 14 days. Rest was considered the best therapy. How things change…
If you are diagnosed with multiple myeloma? Exercise. Before, during and after conventional multiple myeloma therapy. In fact, I am more than 26 years past my original MM diagnosis and I exercise moderately 7 times a week. Moderately. I credit regular exercise as an important MM therapy that keeps me in complete remission.
My favorite exercise is chugging away on my elliptical.
I am both a long-term multiple myeloma survivor and MM coach. While conventional therapies such as chemo, radiation, and surgery may be necessary for the newly diagnosed or relapsed patient, evidence-based complementary and integrative therapies are essential to long-term MM survival.
To learn more about multiple myeloma therapies such as exercise as well as other evidence-based non-conventional MM therapies, scroll down the page, post a question or a comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
Thank you,
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Recommended Reading:
“The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has issued a new guideline on exercise, diet, and weight management during active cancer treatment in adults.
The main endorsement was for oncology providers to recommend aerobic and resistance exercise to patients who are undergoing active treatment with curative intent, in order to mitigate side effects associated with therapy.
Clinicians may also recommend preoperative exercise for patients who are scheduled to undergo surgery for lung cancer.
A second key point applies to dietary changes. The guideline states that there is insufficient evidence to support a recommendation for or against specific diets. There is also insufficient evidence to support intentional interventions focused on weight loss or weight gain prevention during active cancer therapy.
“During the treatment period, many patients with cancer are looking to make doctor-recommended changes to their lifestyle,” said Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, and co-chair of the guideline expert panel, commented in the ASCO Daily News. “What we are really hoping is that this guideline helps spur that discussion and action in the oncology clinic.”
The guidelines were published online on May 16 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The guidelines focus specifically on patients with cancer who are currently undergoing active treatment, and they were drawn up by a multidisciplinary expert panel after a systematic review of the published literature. Only data from randomized controlled trials were considered…
Physical Activity
Supporting the recommendation on physical activity is evidence showing that exercise interventions during active treatment reduce fatigue, preserve cardiorespiratory fitness, physical functioning, and strength, the authors note. Among some patient groups, exercise during active treatment may also improve quality of life and reduce anxiety and depression…”
“CA patients who’ve been told to rest and avoid exercise can – and should – find ways to be physically active both during and after treatment, according to new national guidelines. Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH..
We have to get doctors past the ideas that exercise is harmful to their CA patients. There is a still a prevailing attitude out there that patients shouldn’t push themselves during treatment, but our message — avoid inactivity — is essential,” Schmitz says…
“The timing of exercise did matter, however. It appeared to be more beneficial when patients started fitness routines during treatment rather than waiting until afterward. Patients who exercised during treatment experienced improvements in both physical and mental health, while people who started later had only gains in physical fitness…”
