Effects of Moderate Walking on Bone Loss & Functional Capacity During Hormone Therapy

Paula Chiplis, PhD., RN, a clinical instructor and senior research assistant at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland reported, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 49th Annual Meeting (Oct 2007) that simply walking 5 times a week at a moderate rate for 30 minutes can dramatically improve life for men suffering from side effects from some prostate cancer treatments.

Men undergoing hormone therapy lose between 4 to 13 percent of their bone density on an annual basis, compared to healthy men who lose between .5 to 1 percent per year, beginning in middle age. Men, who are not undergoing hormone therapy, are not considered to be at risk for osteoporosis and bone fractures; however, when on hormone therapy they are at risk as the rate of bone loss often becomes greater than that of post-menopausal women.

Bone loss leads to bone fractures, significant pain, hospitalization and eventually to the possibility of immobility. The results are the disintegration of a person’s quality of life, additional burdens of family and caregivers along with increased medical costs to society.

The study evaluated 70 sedentary men with Stage I-III prostate cancer, who were randomly assigned to either participate in the exercise plan or usual care (no exercise) during radiation treatment (as a primary treatment), with more than half also receiving hormone therapy. Researchers wanted to determine the effects of a walking program in maintaining physical function and managing cancer and treatment-related symptoms during radiation and hormone treatment for prostate cancer patients.

The results were clear, when prostate cancer patients undergoing hormone therapy (after radiation treatment in the case of this study) walked five times a week for 30 minutes at a moderate pace they maintained or gained bone density, while those who didn’t exercise lost more than two percent of their bone density in a short eight to nine weeks.

Today, most men when starting hormone therapy are not advised by their doctors to start an exercise regime. Those men who do participate in support groups are usually advised by the group members to start an exercise program, but many men are not able to afford a gym membership or a personal trainer, so they do not exercise. This study makes it clear that a gym is not required, just walking at a moderate pace five times a week for 30 minutes will preserve your bone density and your quality of life.

It can not be easier.

Joel T Nowak MA, MSW

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