Can exercise help avoid a common side effect of some types of chemotherapy? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Tingling and the feeling of pins and needles, especially in hands and feet, may occur with use of some types of chemotherapy. Known in medical parlance as peripheral neuropathy, a recent study finds that exercise is able to reduce the development of the condition. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson explains.

Nelson: They're randomized to get twice weekly, half an hour or so sessions of the sensory motor training or standing on the vibrating table or usual care and what they found, the way they measured the appearance of the peripheral neuropathy, they saw it appear in 30% of the folks with the sensory motor training 41% of the folks on the vibrating table and 71% of the folks receiving usual care. This is during the four months they were being treated.  :27

The bad news is that further follow up saw the reduction in peripheral neuropathy with exercise diminish, and Nelson notes the condition usually worsens after cessation of therapy before getting better gradually, but says the strategy is worth trying. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.