Physical activity for cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic: a call to action
- PDF / 385,241 Bytes
- 3 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 92 Downloads / 153 Views
COMMENTARY
Physical activity for cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic: a call to action Leandro F. M. Rezende1 · Dong Hoon Lee2 · Gerson Ferrari3 · José Eluf‑Neto4 · Edward L. Giovannucci2,5,6 Received: 22 June 2020 / Accepted: 7 November 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Self-isolation is strongly recommended for cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, but may lead to physical inactivity and prolonged sitting time. The benefits of physical activity for cancer patients are manifold, such as reduced anxiety, fewer depressive symptoms, less fatigue, better quality of life, and improved physical function. In the last decade, several oncology-related organizations have provided guidance and summarized the evidence on the role of physical activity for cancer survivors. In this comment, we provide a brief summary of these recommendations and benefits of physical activity for cancer patients; and we recommend that oncologists and health practitioners should promote an active lifestyle for these patients during the pandemic and thereafter. Suggestions for implementing these actions in the clinical settings are also provided. Keywords Physical activity · Exercise · Covid-19 · Cancer patients · Cancer survivors
Main The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed radical changes in our daily activities. In order to slow infection rates, social isolation measures have been strongly recommended for the World Health Organization (WHO), especially for groups at risk of severe illness such as older * Leandro F. M. Rezende [email protected] 1
Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Rua Botucatu, 740 – 4° Andar – sala 457 – Vila Clementino – CEP, São Paulo, SP 04023‑062, Brazil
2
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
3
Laboratorio de Ciencias de la Actividad Física, el Deporte y la Salud, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, USACH, Santiago, Chile
4
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
5
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
6
Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
individuals and those with underlying health conditions [1]. Global estimates suggest that 1.7 billion individuals (22% of the global population) are at risk of severe COVID-19 [2], which includes 43 million prevalent cancer cases (diagnosed with cancer in the past 5 years) [3]. In addition, obesity, which is highly prevalent in western countries, has been linked with increased risk of COVID-19-related complications and several types of cancer (e.g., breast, colorectal and endometrial) [4]. Patients with cancer have higher risk of being admitted to intensive care unit requiring invasive ventilators or dying from COVID-19 than patients without
Data Loading...
