Word: breast
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...infection easily. Many women are advised to not pick up their children, to not use heavy handbags or lift more than 10-15 lb. at a time and to limit exercise to milder forms such as walking, swimming and light aerobics. (See TIME's special report on advances for breast-cancer patients...
Those rules can complicate everyday life, as Ethel Jefferson, 68, a breast-cancer patient in Philadelphia, learned firsthand. When her condition was diagnosed several months after her lumpectomy and radiation treatment, her doctor warned her against lifting more than 2 lb. with the affected arm. "Can you imagine going grocery-shopping?" she says. "I would ask someone at the store to lift my bags and then make sure someone would be home to help. You learn to compensate, but it was a challenge...
...that doctors may be overlooking some significant benefits of heavy-lifting activity for thousands of patients like Jefferson. Published in the Aug. 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the study is the largest and longest of its kind to date. University of Pennsylvania researchers recruited 141 breast-cancer patients with a diagnosis of stable lymphedema. Half of them participated in a biweekly 90-min. weight-lifting program, which involved the slow, progressive addition of weight machines and free weights, up to as much weight as patients could comfortably lift; the other half of the patients...
...rigorous evidence to support it led doctors to take a conservative approach in recommending excess activity. "Because we didn't have strong data one way or another, there was this dictum that translated to, Don't lift anything, or only minimally use your arm," explains Dr. Brian Lawenda, a breast-cancer-radiation specialist at Naval Medical Center San Diego, who was not involved in the new study...
...merit of the weight-lifting program - beyond its health benefits - is that it could be affordable and accessible for breast-cancer survivors, says Schmitz. The classes used in her study were designed to be easily replicated; they were offered at community locations like YMCA centers and taught by fitness coaches who underwent a short training period to learn to spot problematic symptoms...