Total body water distribution in breast cancer survivors following cancer rehabilitation

Department(s)

Natural Science

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2017

Keywords

Cancer, Hydration, Physical activity

Abstract

Cancer in humans is frequently associated with compartmentalization of body fluids as a result of sedentary behavior and pharmacological cellular toxicity. Total Body Water (TBW) in the general population is approximately 55–60% of body weight in adult males and 50–55% in adult females, while varying significantly in pathological conditions. Exercise is largely recognized as an important tool to TBW distribution. The purpose of this study was to investigate, for a least 12 months, the impact of physical activity on body water distribution in a sample of cancer patients and compare their responses to a sample of healthy controls. Cancer patients included 28 clinically stable female cancer patients diagnosed with breast cancer (aged 59 ± 9 years, weight 70.2 ± 9.9 kg, and Body Mass Index (BMI 26.7 ± 5.4 kg·m ), who were enrolled in a year-long physical activity prescription program. The results indicated the absence of significant variations of TBW% between the cancer patients and controls, however, there was a significant improvement in intracellular water content (ICW%) at 6 months (T0: 51.1 ± 3.9 vs. T6: 52.4 ± 4.1; p < 0.05) and at T12 (T0: 51.1 ± 3.9 vs. T12: 53.6 ± 3.1; p < 0.005). In conclusion, in this small sample of cancer survivors, an unsupervised cancer rehabilitation program reduced the trend towards increased peripheral edema. 2

Publication Title

Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology

E-ISSN

24115142

Volume

2

Issue

2

DOI

10.3390/jfmk2020012

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