Exercise for Cancer Patients - Questions Answered

Cancer takes such a heavy toll that exercise is the last thing many cancer patients
want to do when undergoing treatment. Scientists are increasingly finding, however,
that cancer patients receive numerous benefits from regular exercise. Exercise
boosts mood, increases resilience to treatments, and improves recovery rates.
Some patients may wonder which form of exercise offers the greatest advantages,
and how much exercise is too much. Here is some information to help patients get
started receiving the benefits of an exercise program.

What Forms of Exercise Benefit Cancer Patients?
Aerobic exercise is probably the most common form of exercise practiced, and
ranges from mild to very intense. This means it is great for cancer patients because
they can choose the level of activity that matches their energy levels. At the intense
end of the aerobic spectrum is running, which is too heavy for many people to begin
with. Walking, on the other hand, is a very effective exercise that is also gentle on
the body. Recent studies have found that breast cancer patients have better survival
rates when they engage in regular exercise during treatment. Since aerobic exercise
increases oxygen exchange in the lungs, it benefits patients receiving mesothelioma
treatment. Walking for just 15-20 minutes a day can give patients huge boosts in
energy and vitality.

Strength training is another excellent option for cancer patients but should be started
slowly because of its intensity. This form of exercise boosts mood, energy, and
strength by increasing the body's levels of hormones and neurotransmitters.
Strength training has also been found to significantly reduce side effects of cancer
treatments. Cancer patients can begin with milder exercises, such as light
bodyweight movements, and work up to more intense sessions using weights as
they become stronger.

What Type of Routine is Best?

When anyone is starting an exercise regimen, it's important to take things slow and
listen to one's body to maximize benefits and reduce the risk of overtraining. No
matter how long one has been training, however, rest periods remain essential to
success. Many people are able to engage in mild exercise such as walking on a
daily basis, but most people should take rest periods of a few days between intense
workouts. After training regularly for awhile, some individuals are able to engage in
strength training on a more frequent basis as long as they are not using very heavy
weights. Training too often and resting too little can cause a condition called
overtraining whose symptoms include fatigue and immune suppression, both of
which could be hazardous to people with cancer.

Engaging in regular exercise is one of the best things cancer patients can do to
support positive thinking and mood, reduce treatment side effects, and improve
chances of recovery. It is also essential for patients in remission, whose chances of relapse are sharply reduced by regular exercise. Cancer patients who want to get
started can get the greatest benefits from exercise by simply listening to their body
and adjusting their regimen as needed.


This post was submitted by an anonymous guest writer. Thank you, anonymous!

Christmas and New Years!

Some of you may have noticed that there has been a distinct lack of posts over the past week, and there is a good explanation, I assure you! Over the holidays, I have been predisposed, and we still have New Year's Day coming up this Sunday. Christmas was last Sunday, thus striking out two post days for holiday here on Brighter Earth.

Do not fret, though; the Sunday following New Year's Day will see another post up, as per schedule (hopefully! haha). For now, though, I am afraid you must be content with a "Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!" Have a great holiday, regardless of what it is you celebrate. Hanukkah, Kwanza, Lunar New Year's; it is all a part of the global culture!

Merry holidays, and try to do something good in the spirit of the season. ;D

Make-A-Wish Foundation

"Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® has given hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions. From our humble beginnings with one boy’s wish to be a police officer, we’ve evolved into an organization that grants a child’s wish in the U.S. every 40 minutes."

Today's non-profit feature is about one I have been hoping to review for quite some time now, and really reaches out to a lot of people. While their methods of charity may not be what some consider the best, it is definitely at least creative and inspiring.

Just about everyone knows how Make-A-Wish Foundation works, at it's most basic structure: a kid gets terminally ill, and the foundation uses donation money to grant the wish of the child. It is fairly simple, and sometimes even narrow-minded, but it does give the kid one last chance to do what he or she has always wanted to do.

First off, the child that has been terminally diagnosed must be referred to the foundation. Parents, other children, and the medical professionals involved with that child can refer someone they think is eligible to have their wish granted. "Between 2½ and 18 years of age at the time of the referral," and, "have never received a wish from another similar organization," are the two requirements.

Next, the child is then determined to be either medically eligible, or not. Life threatening conditions are a must for any approved submissions. Then, volunteers try to figure out what it is exactly the child wants, and finally, they do it for that child. They give kids a second chance to do what they want the most.

Check out Make-A-Wish Foundation, and maybe even help a kid out today who just wants to get in a final wish.

Bhookh.com

 Bhookh.com

"Feed a Child with a Click"

Here's a little fact for you: hunger is the number one cause of death in India.

Have another: 1/3rd of the world’s hungry live in India.

One more?: 5 Indians die every minute from hunger.

This stark reality is hard to grasp for first-world citizens, because having food is the basest of necessities for us. We never worry where the next meal is going to come from, or even if it will be safe to eat. We have practically conditioned ourselves free of the worry of hunger.

TheNonProfits.com

 

TheNonProfits.com

"Free Donations Directory"

Here is a really cool site that I happened across while searching for click-to-give websites on Google. Apparently, this site actually has a huge list of good click-to-give organizations that you can simply click on and be done with. This website is basically a hub for the aforementioned charities, which makes this already easy way to donate even easier!

Quite a few of these links actually showed up on my blog as well, so you will recognize them while you are looking through if you have been following Brighter Earth even a little closely. I think that this list holds many future recommendations, so keep an eye out for them!

TheNonProfits.com is just a click away (literally!).

Rescue Ocean Wildlife

Today's Brighter Earth free non-profit charity website gives aid to the oceans and marine wildlife. The website goes by the name of Rescue Ocean Wildlife, and it's one more simple click-to-give site made by care2, a charity social network group of sites that bring together charitable people to find a good charity.

Here is an explanation of their site's mission, taken from the Rescue Ocean Wildlife front page:

"Your free click generates donations from our sponsors. You may click once a day, every day. 100% of the donations raised go directly to Oceana to save our oceans through policy, advocacy and research. Oceana's scientists, lawyers and advocates work around the world to protect corals, make seafood safe, save sea turtles and more!"

You may remember the care2 social community from a recent post by the name of Stop Violence Against Women, which was another one of care2's projects. If you're interested in learning more about care2, see the linked page to read about the charity network more in-depth.


All it takes is a click to save the ocean -- so why haven't you done your duty yet?

JustGive

JustGive

"The Destination for Charitable Online Giving."

This site is not quite like the rest of the organizations I post about, as it's not exactly free to donate. If you wish to donate to a specific charity, you will need to offer up the money yourself (or, of course, find someone else to offer it). Now, there are a billion charities out there to donate to, so why use JustGive?

JustGive can be imagined as a sort of 'hub' for charities, where donators in search of the perfect charity to contribute to will have no problem finding one. This is largely thanks to the GuideStar service, which provides access to almost two million different non-profit organizations!

If you have felt like it's time to make donations, then you definitely need to check up on JustGive!