Reach - Research In Exercise And Cancer Health

Dr. Amy Kirkham is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Alberta. In this episode, we chat about chemotherapy based periodization and how to modify exercise according to chemotherapy cycles and how you're feeling. We also chat about the role of exercise in mitigating cardiovascular toxicity from chemotherapy. 

In this episode I dive a little deeper into some of the considerations (both cancer and non-cancer related) for putting together a program for a cancer patient or survivor. I chat about how the cancer type, treatment and point along the cancer continuum can affect the exercise prescription, and the goals of that phase of training.      For more about us go to www.reachbeyondcancer.com or follow me on twitter @CiaranFairman.     

In this episode, I chat about one of the areas of cancer care can be improved in changing how we deliver information about exercise for cancer patients and survivors. A pamphlet telling them to exercise isn’t enough, we need to do better.

We chat about what Rob’s role as the Head of Research and the type of research the Irish Cancer Society funds. We also talk about how to sift through common cancer myths and how to improve the communication of the scientific evidence to combat fear mongering and quacks.   To hear what the Irish Cancer Society is up to check out www.cancer.ie  or follow Robert on Twitter @DrRobertOConnor. Be sure to check out the Decoding Cancer talks on Irish Cancer Society facebook page for great free information on all things cancer.    Show notes:   3:30 – Robert’s background and what he does as head of research as the Irish Cancer Society 5:40 – The Irish Cancer Society’s four areas of intervention 8.40 -  How has the public’s awareness of risk factors for cancer changed and what impact has the internet/social media had? 13.05 – Scare tactics in spreading information about cancer risk. 18.30 – How to improve the communication of scientific evidence in areas of cancer. 33.30 – Common cancer myths debunked: cancer is not a

Justin is a research fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute. In this episode, we chat about colorectal cancer and how diet and exercise can help patients and survivors. We also chat about some important considerations for working with this population, such as working around ostomy bags and how to modify exercise accordingly.   Show Notes  0:30 – Colorectal cancer – What it is and what are some modifiable risk factors.   5:00 – Treatment of colorectal cancer and common side effects.   8:00 – Staging of cancer and their effects on the course of treatment.   12:00 – Making sense of a messy field – recommendations for dietary patterns to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.   18.00 – How physical activity can help colorectal cancer patients and survivors.   24.00 – What might be happening biologically with exercise in colorectal cancer patients to stop cancer from growing.   38.00 – Side effects of treatment unique to colorectal cancer and common modifications to exercise.   47:00 – Exercise conside

In part 2 of our interview, myself and Nicole chat about one of the biggest areas of improvement in our field, improving the communication of our research. We chat about establishing relationships with physicians and oncologists along with educating health professionals on working the cancer patients and survivors.   See what Nicole’s up to at www.thrivehealthservices.com or follow her on twitter @NCulosReed. Find out more about us at www.reachbeyondcancer.com or find me on twitter @ciaranfairman.

If you haven’t listened to part 1 of Kylee’s interview, go check out episode 15. Kylee is in the final year of her dermatology residency. Having moved to Columbus a few years ago, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. In part 2 of the interview, we chat about how Kylee balanced her residency whilst going through treatment, how she modified her exercise during treatment and what it was like trying to eat during chemo. We have an important discussion about the meat to sandwich ratio at Jimmy John’s, along with Kylee’s perspective on keto during cancer treatment.     A huge thanks to Kylee for sharing her story!  For more cancer and health related topics, find me on twitter @ciaranfairman, or go to reachbeyondcancer.com to find out more about what we do.         Show notes   4.00 – Balancing cancer treatment and residency coursework. 7.00 – When the more pronounced side effects of chemo (such as hair loss) started to kick in. 10.40 – Reflecting on the journey through treatment and her mindset throughout. 16

Sami Mansfield is a cancer exercise specialist and founder of Cancer Wellness for Life. She provides educational content about cancer wellness to clinical staff in hospitals and organizations, along with patients and survivors. Sami also runs “BUILD” a functional program run through a crossfit gym in Kansas, that is designed to combat treatment related side effects and improve the quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. In this episode, we chat about Sami’s programs, how she started collaborating with hospitals and what the BUILD program does for cancer patients and survivors. Find out more about Sami at www.cancerwellnessforlife.com, @cancerwellnessforlife on Instagram and @bewellwithsami on twitter. Keep up with us at reachbeyondcancer.com or follow me on twitter @ciaranfairman.     Sami Show notes   3:30 – Sami’s background & how she got started working with cancer patients and survivors. 6.00 – Cancer terminology is like learning a new language. 8.45 – How moving into survivorship can be a reall

Trista graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, where she spent a lot of her time working in the Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute. In this episode, we chat about Trista’s PhD dissertation where she looked at the difference between perceptual fatigue and muscular fatigue to try and get a deeper understanding of cancer related fatigue.   We also spend a lot of time chatting about a phased approach to cancer-rehabilitation. This approach, divides the rehabilitation into different stages based on where the patient is during their treatment and how they are responding to the rehab protocol. This is some really cool stuff that the RMCRI have been working on for a while and may very well serve as a model of cancer rehab in the future.   You can find Trista on facebok here or email here at tolson@stcloudestate.edu for more infor on what’s she’s up to. Follow me on twitter @CiaranFairman to hear about more things exercise and cancer.   Enjoy!   Show notes    6:05     What is cancer related fat

Kylee is in the final year of her dermatology residency. Having moved to Columbus a few years ago, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We chat about how she balanced her cancer treatments, along with planning a wedding at the same time!   Kylee’s background training as a physician gave her a unique perspective on her diagnosis and treatment and actually ended up influencing some of her treatment decisions, including avoiding a bone marrow biopsy! Her training also allowed her to give a really clear description of some of the common cancer treatments, what they are and why you need them. We have an important talk about the need for patients to continuously ask questions of their physicians to make sure they understand what they’re going through.   A huge thanks to Kylee for sharing her story!   For more cancer and health related topics, find me on twitter @ciaranfairman, or go to reachbeyondcancer.com to find out more about what we do.       Show notes   4.00 – Kylee’s journey through med school and her

Patricia is a PhD researcher at Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland. Patricia is finishing up her dissertation, where she looked at a physical activity program to improve symptoms of cancer-related fatigue.   In this episode, we focus on cancer-related fatigue, what it is, how it’s different from regular tiredness and how it can affect different people. We chat about Patrica’s dissertation work and how physical activity can improve fatigue. We also chat about the state of cancer rehabilitation in Ireland and what services are out there for cancer patients/survivors.   You can find Patricia on twitter @FERNTRI or through email at patricia.sheehan@postgrad.wit.ie   You can also find the MedEx program in Waterford here: https://www.wit.ie/schools/health_sciences/medexwit.   Find me on twitter at @CiaranFairman or go to reachbeyondcancer.com to find out more about what we do.   This episode doesn’t have an intro, I came down with a devastating case of the man-flu over the weekend, so I’m not able to spea

This is part 2 with Jeff, who is a researcher at Athabasca University who looks a physical activity and sedentary behavior in a variety of cancer populations.     We talk about the Amber study, a massive study looking at physical activity in 1,500 cancer patients and looking at them up to 10 years after treatment. This study will answer A LOT of important questions about physiological effects of exercise, along with effects of activity on cancer recurrence and mortality. We also chat about how theire trying to develop a central databse of cancer facilities to try and improve the cancer network across the country. Finally, we chat about how we might be putting too many barriers to exercise with cancer patients and survivors – a really important topic. Enjoy!  You can find Jeff on Twitter @JeffVallance, or at http://fhd.athabascau.ca/faculty/jvallance/. Look for us at reachbeyondcancer.com or find me on twitter @CiaranFairman.   We talk about Mike Lang in the episode and the great things he’s doing with youth c

Nicole is a Professor at the University of Calgary who focuses on physical activity for cancer survivors. In this episode, we chat about head and neck cancer, and some of the challenging side effects of the cancer and its treatment. Due to its location, cancer-related cachexia is common concern, along with some of the real difficulties and pain with just eating a meal, and how these affect exercise decisions.   Interestingly, HPV is such a common risk factor for Head and Neck cancer, that there are two separate types of HN cancer – HPV related on non-HPV related. We chat about the implications of this and how to reduce your overall risk.   Finally, we chat about our shared frustration in the translation of research into practice and how our research lines differ from the advice we give in a clinic.   If you’re in the Calgary area and are interested in getting involved in a research study, check out Nicole’s Lab at: https://www.ucalgary.ca/healthandwellnesslab/people/dr-culos-reed   Learn more about Nicole’s

Darcey Wion is a trainer at System of Strength, an incredible gym and community in Columbus Ohio. In this episode, we chat about Darcey’s journey from being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma fresh out of college, to now being the on the cover of women’s health magazine. Darcey gives an incredibly honest and refreshing insight into what her treatment looked like, how her chemotherapy worked, along with some of the brutal side effects that she still struggles over 7 years later. Darcey also talks about feeling guilt as a younger patient, the value of having a strong support system and things such as losing her hair as a young woman. We also talk about how brutal Carella’s classes are at SOS. I can’t thank Darcey enough for her honesty and vulnerability in this interview, I think it will help a lot of people as a result.   Most importantly, Darcey is the finalist for Women's Health Next Fitness Star. The winner is selected based on votes and I can't think of anyone more deserving. You have unlimited votes from n

Jeff is a researcher at Athabasca University who looks a physical activity and sedentary behavior in a variety of cancer populations.   We chat about reallocating time to physical activity in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, how rock-climbing might be beneficial to gynecological cancer survivors and how getting a dog could help with increasing activity! We also have an interesting chat about how increasing cancer patient’s/survivor’s activity is less about the activity we deem is “optimal” and more just providing them with choices and options of activity that they can look to integrate into their lifestyle.   You can find Jeff on Twitter @JeffVallance, or at http://fhd.athabascau.ca/faculty/jvallance/. Look for us at reachbeyondcancer.com or find me on twitter @CiaranFairman.   We talk about Mike Lang in the episode and the great things he’s doing with youth cancer survivors. Find him @mikeylang on Twitter or visit https://about.me/mike.lang to find out more.    Show Notes.   3.00 – NHL – those who meet PA guidelines

In the second part of my interview with Lamps, we chat about his journey from college to professional soccer player, some of the long term side effect of treatment he still suffers from today and some of the challenges he faces. We chat about the importance of him having coaches at Chicago Fire who understand what he’s been through and the value of having the support system. Most importantly, we talk about his amazing foundation www.lampstrong .com, and everything he’s doing to help cancer patients and survivors.   If you want to get in touch with Matt or hear about the great work he’s doing, go to www.lampstrong.com or find him on twitter @LampStrong.   You can find me on twitter @CiaranFairman or go to www.reachbeyondcancer.com to find out more about REACH.   Show Notes: 3.00 – Best pizza in Columbus 4.00 – Changing his focus to really take turning professional seriously. 5.00 – Having a degree in biology and Latin, a family of physicians and their support of his professional soccer dreams. 8.00 – How his s

Titch is an assistant professor at Elon University, where he investigates the effects of different exercise interventions on cancer survivors.   In today’s show, we talk about Titch’s dissertation research, where he looked at the effects of protein supplementation in combination with weight training in breast cancer survivors. We have a great chat about the study itself, the results and some of the practical applications and take home points. We also chat about some common side effects experienced by cancer survivors, such as lymphedema and peripheral neuropathy and how exercise can be modified to account for these.   You can find Titch on twitter @TitchMadzima, or contact him directly via email at tmadzima@elon.edu. You can find me on twitter @CiaranFairman, or go to reachbeyondcancer.com to find out more about REACH and our services.   Enjoy!     Show Notes   4.30 – Intro to the study and rationale for using a protein supplement with breast cancer survivors.   6.50 – The exercise prescription, how the group

Kristin is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada researching how physical activity can benefit cancer patients and survivors. In this episode, we talk about some of the most important questions to answer in the realm of physical activity and cancer. For those interested in this area, this will be one of the most comprehensive views you get of the field, past, present and future. You can find Kristin on Twitter @KLCampbellPhD along with her lab @CEPL_UBC. Keep up with their research or get in touch with Kristin through the department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia. http://physicaltherapy.med.ubc.ca/person/kristin-campbell/   Show notes 1:55 – Introduction to Kristin. 3.45 – History of the field of exercise oncology, starting in the late 80’s 8.15 – Does Physical activity reduce the risk of cancer risk and survival? 11.45 – Does physical activity have an effect on cancer treatment decisions, treatment completion rate or response. 15.15 – What is the op

In today’s episode I speak to Sarah Weller, an exercise physiologist in Vancouver, Canada. Sarah has over 10 years of experience working with a variety of cancer patients and survivors at varying times of treatment. We chat about Sarah’s wealth of experience in the field, the difficulty of setting up a cancer rehabilitation center and establishing relationships with oncologists, along with a discussion about working with different cancer populations including glioblastoma and terminal cancers. It was a fascinating discussion with someone who has a phenomenal amount of experience in the trenches in exercise oncology.   You can find Sarah on her website sarahweller.ca, or find her on twitter @_sarahweller. Head over to our website reachbeyondcancer to find out more, or catch me on twitter @ciaranfairman.   *We had some microphone issues on my end in this episode. You’ll be able to hear the difference in quality in my voice compared to other episodes, but I felt the content was so valuable, it was better to get

Matt was diagnosed with stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma a week after graduating high school. Instead of going on to play college soccer, Matt had to stay in Ohio and go through a brutal regimen of chemotherapy and radiation. This episode is part 1 of a two part series covering Matt's journey from his diagnosis, to where he is now, an MLS star, with a successful cancer foundation dedicated to help making the lives of childhood cancer survivors better. Lamps is as tough as they get, and he gave a great insight into the devastating effects of treatment, some of which he still battles today. You can find more about Matt's foundation at www.lampstrong.com. You can also find him on twitter @LampStrong.    Please subscribe, review and rate the podcast. Let me know how we can improve!   You can find more about reach at www.reachbeyondcancer.com or follow me on twitter @ciaranfairman.  Show notes: 4.45 - His diagnosis, how he found out and breaking down.  10.00 - His odds of survival. Playing a tournament the week he foun