Tour de Salzburg

Thursday

Halo Freunde,

We are approaching the end of our vacation.  It has been a wonderful time of knowledge and respite.  Our theme for the past couple of days has shifted to Eat, Sleep and Ride.  While in Munich, we took a bike tour of the city.  Mike’s Bikes, owned by an American took us for an exhilarating and fast ride through the history of Munich.  We enjoyed it so much that we decided to rent bikes in Salzburg to tour the city on our own.  Salzburg, Austria is about 90 miles southeast of Munich.  The city is quaint and beautiful with picturesque views everywhere you turn.  The Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg.  We visited several scenes from the movie including the famous white gazebo where Rolf and Liesl shared their first kiss and sang Sixteen Going on Seventeen.  If you didn’t know, the Sound of Music was based on a true story, but not all of the movie is true.  A couple of interesting tidbits: Maria was orphaned as a child and raised as an atheist and socialist by an abusive relative.  She became a Christian while studying to be a teacher.  Maria was hired as governess and teacher solely for the Captain’s second oldest daughter, also named Maria, who was bedridden with pneumatic fever.  And, after marrying, Maria and Georg had three children together.

Friday

Okay, sorry for the diversion.  Back to anticancer.  Most of the people in Salzburg travel on bikes.  Brett and I estimated that in two days we traveled about 15 miles on bike.  My buttocks were hurting and my legs felt like jello.  And I thought I was in shape!  This form of exercise is engrained in the people who are raised here.  From toddlers to the elderly, most people were on bikes (or walking).  I wondered about the differences between Houstonians and Austrians.  Clearly, they beat us in exercise and probably social support.  As in Munich, the people in Salzburg are enjoying each other’s company at every hour of the day.  Cafes and bars are full of people laughing and living slowly.  I don’t see many people who are hurried to get from one place to another.   Nor do I see many who are overweight. 

More and more there is evidence that supports the benefits of exercise among cancer patients.  The following is from the weekly emails I get from AICR (American Institute for Cancer Research).  I highly recommend subscribing to this site.  The newsletters are informative, research based and generally include nutrition. www.aicr.org

Advice For Breast Cancer Survivors: Get Moving

For the approximately 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States, new recommendations on physical activity offer some powerful incentives to get active. The recommendations, drawn from a review of the evidence, show that physical activity can help breast cancer survivors improve their physical and mental well-being, and possibly lower the risk of recurrence.

Avoid Inactivity

Historically, clinicians advised cancer patients to rest and avoid activity, but not anymore. New recommendations urge survivors to avoid inactivity. Patients actively undergoing treatment are also included in this recommendation.

The recommendations, published in the July issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, stem from a review of the research by experts in the field of cancer and exercise. The panel of experts focused on five cancer sites: breast, prostate, colon, hematological and gynecologic; however, nearly half of the cancer survivors are breast or prostate cancer.

The report’s conclusion: exercise can prevent, attenuate, treat or rehabilitate many of the challenges faced by cancer survivors. More specifically, physical activity can help survivors improve their quality of life, physical function, strength and flexibility. It also may potentially reduce or delay recurrence or a secondary cancer.

Be Active

According to the guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), cancer survivors should aim to get the same amount of exercise the government recommends for the average person: 150 minutes (2.5 hours) per week of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, two to three weekly sessions of strength training exercises for major muscle groups, and flexibility exercises on the days that other exercises are performed. The guidelines point out that if individuals cannot meet these guidelines the basis of their health status, they "should be as physically active as their abilities and conditions allow." The take-away message: 'some physical activity is better than none."

The review notes clinicians may need to adapt exercise programs to the individual based on their health status or treatment regimen. For example, breast cancer survivors face unique risks from other survivor populations. Some who have undergone certain types of hormonal therapy are at greater risk of fractures, and breast cancer survivors are at greater risk of lymphedema swelling of an arm or leg due to problems in the flow of lymph fluid. These things do not prohibit a woman from engaging in physical activity, they just require more specialized guidance. The ACSM certifies trainers who are qualified to develop programs for people with cancer and cancer survivors (Certified Cancer Exercise Trainer (CET).

Guten Tag,