Hi Everyone

I have always been the person who thought exercise was a four letter word and at the very least, unnecessarily used up heart beats .

However, when casting about for tangible and immediate reasons for Alex to give up smoking, I came across an interview with a researcher who had just shown that people who smoked during radiation had a poorer outcome than those who quit immediately prior. One of the possible reasons he cited, links in to this post and gives a compelling reason to continue with light expercise (IMO)

[quote] Chen said additional research will be needed to explain these differences in outcomes for patients with head and neck cancers. One theory suggests that smoking deprives the body of much-needed oxygen. "Radiation therapy requires oxygenation for the production of free radicals, which attack cancer cells," he said[/quote]

So my thinking is this ... if better oxygenation helps radiation work better, then a bit of walking to promote such oxygenation has to be a good thing. I imagine yoga and breathing would be even better!! My Alex walked at least a kilometre every day he was in chemoradiation and always said he felt much better afterwards. I think he was spurred on in the knowledge that he was able to actively DO something to help himself and it was a positive step (well steps actually) rather than a sacrifice.

I have inserted a link below (I hope) for those of you who would like the whole article and may also be interested in the effects of active smoking on radiation treatment. It's a very short read and mostly in English

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100427171847.htm