New research suggests prostate cancer survivors could benefit from regular long walks.
Walking at an easy pace for about three hours a week could greatly reduce the damaging side effects imposed by prostate cancer treatment, Northwestern University reported.
"Non-vigorous walking for three hours per week seems to improve the fatigue, depression and body weight issues that affect many men post-treatment," said Siobhan Phillips, lead author of the study. "If you walk even more briskly, for only 90 minutes a week, you could also see similar benefits in these areas."
The recent study is one of the first to look out how different types of physical activity influence outcome and quality of life in men that have survived prostate cancer.
"This study shows that you don't have to engage in high-impact, vigorous activities to improve your quality of life after a prostate cancer diagnosis," Phillips said. "Since many prostate cancer survivors might find vigorous activities hard to stick with, the good news is that simply focusing on walking more may be enough to make them feel better."
To make their findings the researchers used data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which included information on 51,529 men in health professions gathered since 1986. Phillips focused on prostate cancer survivors who were diagnosed with non-advanced disease before 2008 and who had responded to a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaire.
Common side effects seen in the questionnaire included "urinary and bowel problems, sexual function issues, fatigue, depression, increased body weight and erectile dysfunction." The questionnaire included information on the average time the subjects spent walking or exercising per week as well as their general walking pace.
After controlling for activity prior to diagnosis and sedentary time, the findings showed higher durations of non-vigorous walking activity was linked to better hormone function (affecting depression, body weight, and fatigue) but not symptoms such as urinary, bowel, or sexual function.
The researchers are urging patients to start an easy walking routine as soon as possible after a prostate cancer diagnosis,
"Cancer survivors have a higher risk of other conditions, such as cardiovascular disease," Phillips said. "Walking may also potentially increase survival and impact their quality of life by preventing the onset of those other conditions."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of Cancer Survivorship: Research and Practice.
