People who are physically active regularly recover better after surgery for colorectal cancer. However, starting an exercise immediately after the diagnosis actually had no effect on overcoming it, the University of Gothenburg’s dissertation shows.
Working on his dissertation, Aron Onerup, who received his doctorate in surgery at the University’s Sahlgrenska Academy and is now a specialty physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, conducted a study of 115 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Participants who had been physically inactive, three weeks after their surgery, proved to be at greater risk of not feeling physically overwhelmed. Among them, the risk of postoperative complications was also four times higher than for participants who had been physically active.
Studies with similar results were performed for individuals who were scheduled for surgery to treat breast cancer and biliary tract disease as well.
The question was whether so many cures could be promoted for patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. In another study, 761 people were randomly assigned to receive routine, routine care or follow an exercise program on their own, for approximately two weeks before and four weeks after surgery for colorectal cancer.
However, this program – which included half an hour of moderate-intensity exercise per day – had no effect on the body’s self-reported physical recovery of the latter group, or on their risk. complication, re-surgery, readmission to hospital, or length of hospital stay.
Although the exercise study did not show any effect in the short postoperative period, it is possible that measures that increase physical activity in the long term may have positive health effects. The key is not to introduce measures into health care until they are scientifically evaluated. “
Aron Onerup, Specialist Doctor, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
However, the overall picture provides evidence that, at the point when it becomes clear that activity is required for biliary tract disease or colorectal cancer, the level of physical activity of people is clearly linked to the course after for them to get over it.
“The findings of the research show that there are other reasons for working for a population that is as physically active as possible, in addition to the benefits for, for example, cardiovascular and mental health known as -it, “Onerup says.