Many men with low-risk prostate cancer who must undertake active surveillance experience stress and anxiety regarding their condition. Active surveillance refers to the close monitoring of cancer. This usually includes a visit to the doctor every six months for a PSA blood test and another digital rectal exam at least once a year.
In this sense, a study published in The Journal of Urology showed that exercise, in this case, high-intensity interval training, can help men who must comply with such supervision control their emotions.
In the research, 52 men on active surveillance for prostate cancer completed questionnaires regarding their fear of disease progression, quality of life and emotional health. Half of the men who took the survey also did 12 weeks of supervised high-intensity interval training, while the other half did not.
The patients exercised on a treadmill three times a week, alternating periods of moderate walking with high-intensity jogging five to eight times during a 30-minute session. Participants who exercised during this time period reported significant improvement in anxiety, stress, and self-esteem.
A text of Harvard Health Publishing noted that the researchers found that “regular exercise made men feel like they were doing something to keep their cancer from progressing.” Furthermore, completing a challenging program of physical activity might also have increased self-esteem and strengthened the patients’ bodies to better tolerate stress.
“Many prostate cancers grow slowly and remain confined to the prostate gland, where they may not cause serious damage. But while some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need little or no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly. Prostate cancer that is detected early, when it is still confined to the prostate gland, has a better chance of being successfully treated,” the Mayo Clinic said.
About 60% of cases of this cancer are diagnosed in people 65 years of age or older, and it rarely occurs before the age of 40.