Effective anti-Multiple Myeloma Therapy- Exercise

4 years ago
/ Multiple Myeloma non-conventional therapies
/ By David Emerson
/ 8 COMMENTS

Exercise may have yet another benefit – the right amount at the right time could make multiple myeloma (MM) treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy more effective…”

The many studies linked below show that the ultimate multiple myeloma therapy may be exercise as it can both reduce your risk of MM in the first place as well as reduce your risk of relapse if you are a MM survivor. Conventional MM oncology has gotten pretty good at getting MM patients into remission after we are first diagnosed. The key is to remain in remission for as long as possible.

Coupled with nutrition and mind-body therapies such as sleep, yoga, spirituality, etc. the individual who exercises is well on his/her way to a long and happy PFS and OS.

But it’s not enough to make a case for regular exercise as multiple myeloma therapy. After all, most everyone knows that he/she should get more exercise. The complete answer for MM patients and survivors is to also offer suggestions for HOW to get your daily exercise.

My answer? Moderate, frequent exercise. Young, old, fat, skinny, in-shape, out-of-shape, etc. You see, my induction chemotherapy and radiation damaged my peripheral nervous system.

The fancy medical term is radiation-induced lumbosacral plexopathy and I also suffer from chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy.

I am limited and I don’t recover too well from a session longer than 30 minutes so I go for quantity over quality. Meaning I work out daily but I move pretty slowly on an elliptical.

I believe the key to my routine is to create a habit. If your exercise routine is a daily habit, I think you’re more likely to stick to it.

I was first diagnosed with MM in early 1994. I reached complete remission in early 1999. I have remained in complete remission ever since by living an evidenced-based, non-toxic, anti-MM lifestyle through therapies such as exercise, nutrition, supplementation, detox, etc.

For more information about non-conventional cancer 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 Cancer Coach
Director PeopleBeatingCancer

Exercise vs. Multiple Myeloma

“A lack of oxygen inside the tumor cells (hypoxia) is thought to make multiple myeloma grow and spread. According to a group of myeloma specialists at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School including Dr. Abdel Kareem Azab, Dr. Irene Ghobrial and others, low oxygen cancerous regions are caused by fast cell division and irregular blood vessel formation. They note that this low-oxygen in the bone marrow microenvironment can promote the survival, movement and spread of multiple myeloma disease. Although this article is written with solid tumors in mind, the principles still apply for us as multiple myeloma patients. So lets get moving!

Exercise may have yet another benefit – the right amount at the right time could make cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy more effective.

The reason has to do with blood flow delivery and oxygen, according to Bradley Behnke, Ph.D., a physiology researcher at Kansas State University. “Tumors contain areas of low oxygen (termed hypoxia), which make them resistant to radiotherapy and more likely to metastasize,” says Behnke. Exercise appears to combat this issue – increasing the amount of blood flow to the tumor, resulting in better oxygenation of the tumor.

“Hypoxia is a common phenomenon which occurs in almost every solid tumor – brain, lung, breast, and prostate – and if the tumor is hypoxic, the prognosis for the patient is poor, resulting in significantly shorter survival and recurrence-free survival of patients versus those with a non-hypoxic tumor,” says Behnke. “But exercise training seems to alleviate this hypoxia almost completely…”

Exercise Reduces Mortality in Cancer Survivors

“Physical activity significantly extends the lives of male cancer survivors, a new study has shown.

“People can start exercising after a diagnosis and have a better health outcome,” study author Kathleen Y. Wolin, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences and surgery at Loyola University in Chicago, told Medscape Medical News.

The study was published in the January issue of the Journal of Physical Activity & Health.

The findings are reinforced by a randomized controlled trial, published onlineJanuary 27 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which has shown that survivors of breast cancer can reduce their inflammation and fatigue by participating in yoga.

The benefits of exercise in preventing illness in already healthy people have been firmly established. But researchers are just beginning to understand how exercise affects people diagnosed with serious illnesses such as cancer, Dr. Wolin explained.

Her team combed through data from the Harvard Alumni Health Study, which is tracking men who entered Harvard as undergraduates from 1916 to 1950.

They found 1021 men with a cancer diagnosis who had completed a questionnaire on their physical activities in 1988.

These men estimated the amount of physical activity — such as walking, stair climbing, sports, and recreation — they participated in during the previous week. The researchers updated the physical activity information with a similar questionnaire in 1998.

How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain

“But the volunteers who had strolled along the quiet, tree-lined paths showed slight but meaningful improvements in their mental health, according to their scores on the questionnaire…”

How Music Can Boost a High-Intensity Workout

“An encouraging new study, however, suggests that listening to music makes strenuous workouts feel easier and may nudge people into pushing themselves harder than they had thought possible…”

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Effective anti-Multiple Myeloma Therapy- Exercise

Exercise may have yet another benefit – the right amount at the right time could make multiple myeloma (MM) treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy more effective…”

Recommended Reading:

Exercise vs. Multiple Myeloma

Exercise Reduces Mortality in Cancer Survivors

How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain

How Music Can Boost a High-Intensity Workout

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