Weight-lifting reduces lymphedema symptoms

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Women with cancer who lift weights are less likely than those who don't lift weights to have lymphedema -- post-surgical swelling, U.S. researchers said.

"Our study challenges the historical medical recommendations for women who get lymphedema after breast cancer, and is another example of well-meaning medical advice turning out to be misguided," lead author Kathryn Schmitz of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine said in a statement.

The researchers examined the impact of weight training on 141 breast cancer survivors with a current diagnosis of lymphedema.

Half were assigned to a weightlifting group that participated in twice-weekly, 90-minute exercise classes for 13 weeks. For the next 39 weeks, the women continued twice-weekly unsupervised exercise, with trainers calling to check in on women.

The 70 women in the control group were asked not to change their exercise level.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the women in the weightlifting group experienced fewer exacerbations of their condition, and a reduction in symptoms, compared to the women who did not lift weights.