Maintaining Strong Bones During Breast Cancer Treatment: Essential Strategies

Weight-bearing exercise and proper nutrition play a crucial role in maintaining bone health, especially during breast cancer treatment. Incorporating a combination of weight-bearing aerobic activities and resistance exercises into your routine can help strengthen your bones. In addition, optimizing your intake of vitamin D and calcium, adopting a nutrient-rich diet, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and staying updated on bone density testing are essential steps to support your bone health. Let's explore these strategies in detail.

Embrace Weight-Bearing Exercise:
Engaging in weight-bearing aerobic activities like walking, jogging, dancing, hiking, stair climbing, and racquet sports puts your bones to work against gravity. This type of exercise strengthens your bones by challenging them and promoting bone density.

Include Resistance Exercises:
Resistance exercises, such as lifting weights, are also critical for bone health. They help stimulate bone growth and increase muscle strength, providing additional support for your skeletal system.

Ensure Sufficient Vitamin D and Calcium Intake:
During breast cancer treatment, it's important to consume enough vitamin D and calcium. You can obtain vitamin D through supplements, sunlight exposure, and dietary sources like sardines, salmon, green leafy vegetables and plant-derived products. 

Follow a Nutrient-Rich Diet:
A varied and balanced diet filled with nutrient-dense foods is beneficial for maintaining bone health. Focus on consuming a range of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, and foods rich in vitamin D and calcium.

Seek Smoking Cessation Support:
If you smoke, consider discussing a smoking cessation program with your doctor. Smoking is a risk factor for osteoporosis and fractures due to its negative impact on bone density. It also impairs the healing process of fractures. Quitting smoking is crucial for preserving bone health.

Limit Alcohol Consumption:
Excessive alcohol consumption can have detrimental effects on bone health. Studies have shown that moderate alcohol intake is associated with an increased risk of developing osteoporosis. If you consume alcohol, aim to reduce your daily consumption or limit the number of drinking days per week to support your bone health.

*Stay Informed with Bone Density Testing:
Prior to starting breast cancer treatment, it is important to have a baseline assessment of your bone health through a bone density test. Regular follow-up tests every 1 to 2 years during treatment allow your doctor to monitor any changes in bone density accurately. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans are commonly used to measure bone mineral density and identify areas prone to fractures, such as the hip, spine, and wrist.