Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
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This is the fifth blog post I’ve written about exercise (ex) as an evidence-based therapy for multiple myeloma. My previous exercise-themed blog posts focused on exercise as both preventive MM therapy and complementary MM therapy. Meaning, I was promoting exercise before and during chemotherapy, radiation and surgery for multiple myeloma patients.
This post focuses on exercise as evidence-based therapy to reduce the risk of MM relapse as well as heal the many short, long-term and late stage side effects brought on by myeloma therapies.
I can’t speak for all side effects of all myeloma survivors everywhere. I am a long-term MM survivor who has lived with lots of side effects. My experience coupled with the studies below should serve as guidelines for multiple myeloma patients in their first year or two of MM survival.
Frequent, moderate, exercise, in my experience, combats the side effects below:
I can’t say that frequent, moderate exercise is the sole reason for my being alive more than 25 years after my diagnosis of our “incurable cancer.” I can say however, that frequent, moderate exercise is a key piece of my survival puzzle.
Have you been diagnosed with multiple myeloma? Are you currently undergoing therapy or have you concluded active therapy? Are you experiencing any side effects? Nerve damage? Bone pain?
To learn more about evidence-base MM therapies, both conventional and non-conventional, scroll down the page and post a question or comment. I will reply to you ASAP.
Hang in there,
David Emerson
“The updated recommendations, published today in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, outline specific ‘exercise prescriptions’ to address common side effects, such as anxiety and fatigue, associated with cancer diagnoses and treatment…”
“The aim of this secondary analysis was to explore the impact of exercise timing (i.e., 24 h clock time of exercise session) on weight loss and components of energy balance…
Results- At month 10, weight loss was significantly greater in both Early-EX (−7.2 ± 1.2%; p < 0.001) and Sporadic-EX vs CON, and Early-EX vs Late-EX. There were no between group differences for change in TDEE, EI, and non-exercise energy expenditure (P > 0.05). A significant group × time interaction (p = 0.02) was observed for NEPA (counts/min), however, after adjusting for multiple comparisons, group effects were no longer significant.
Conclusions- Despite minimal differences in components of energy balance, Early-EX lost significantly more weight compared with Late-Ex.
Although the mechanisms are unclear, the timing of exercise may be important for body weight regulation.
“Against this background, we overview the extant literature base together with ongoing/planned studies examining the role of ex therapy following a cancer diagnosis with a view towards identifying major gaps in the knowledge…
Data from published studies provides relatively strong evidence that ex therapy is a well-tolerated and safe adjunct therapy that can mitigate several common treatment-related side effects among cancer patients across the PEACE framework.
In addition, observational studies suggest that higher levels of ex may be associated with improved prognosis in patients with solid tumors…
Across all studies, there were a total of approximately 51 different primary endpoints; in two-thirds of studies, quality of life, fatigue, or physical functioning was the primary endpoint.
CONCLUSION: There have been significant leaps in knowledge regarding the role and efficacy of ex therapy in cancer survivors over the past 25 years.
“What the science says: The benefits of ex for both mental and physical health cannot be denied. Since 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that adults engage in moderate-intensity activities, such as a brisk walk or jog, for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week.[4]…
The evidence supporting ex in cancer care is so compelling that most experts consider physical activity to be part of mainstream, not complementary, treatment. “At this point, ex and diet regimens can easily be considered conventional medicine…”