Take Control: Take a Walk

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the first in a series of topics I hope you’ll enjoy. If there’s something you’d like me to cover, email me.

Today’s topic is control. We often hear that exercise helps people with cancer, but rarely why. Here’s how it works.

Treatment is like running nonstop. Your body is constantly processing chemotherapy, absorbing radiation, or healing from surgery. The result is a fatigue that’s hard to explain. It feels like a balloon that has lost its air, and rest alone doesn’t fix it. Surprisingly, movement and hydration do.

Stress affects brain chemistry. The emotional weight of a diagnosis, endless appointments and tests, everyday life, and the physical toll of treatment all disrupt the neurotransmitters that keep our mood steady. When they’re out of balance, we feel down and unmotivated.

Exercise helps restore that balance. Moving your body helps in several ways:

• Boosts the brain chemicals that help you feel good, emotionally and physically
• Carries more oxygen to your cells, helping tissues heal and restoring energy
• May help your body tolerate chemotherapy better
• Add music or a friend to your walk for an extra lift
• Any active movement counts: walking, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, weights, gardening, cleaning, or dancing. (Driving doesn’t!)

Water does its part too. Like a wilting plant, a hydrated body perks up and feels more alert and energetic, and your mood brightens.

The research agrees. A recent New York Times article (Oct. 6) reports on a landmark trial of colon cancer patients in a three-year coached exercise program. They were less likely to have their cancer return and had a better quality of life. After eight years, 90% were alive, compared with 83% of those not in the program. The program also saved the health system money. The trial’s lead researcher noted that a drug with that much benefit would become standard care overnight.

Guidelines now recommend at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, but many patients need a trainer and structure to get there. As researcher Kathryn Schmitz put it, “Exercise is not just biology. It is also behavior.” One woman, exhausted after treatment, worked with a trainer weekly for 12 weeks. She and her husband are now back to their bike rides.

Until recently, insurance hasn’t paid for these programs. That’s starting to change: next year, UPMC in Pittsburgh will become the first U.S. health system to cover exercise programs for cancer patients.

Getting support: Ask your doctor about a referral to physical therapy or rehabilitation, which insurance may cover. Many YMCA branches also offer free or low-cost 12-week programs for cancer survivors.

I know how hard it is to get moving when you feel depleted. But once you start and feel the difference, that becomes its own motivation.

During treatment, a day when you feel better is a gift worth reaching for.

See you next time,

Dr. Fran

Read the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/well/cancer-prevention-exercise-treatment.html