Yoga Can Boost Energy and Reduce Pain of Cancer Patients

A new study suggests that yoga can aid in boosting the energy and reducing the pain experienced by breast cancer patients.

Researchers at the Ohio State University led by professor of psychiatry and psychology Janice Kiecolt-Glaser concluded that the level of fatigue in women, who are breast cancer survivors, decreased by 57 percent after three months of yoga practice. A 20 percent decrease in inflammation was also noted.

For the study, they recruited women with age range 27 to 70 who were two to three months done with their surgery or radiation treatment. These women underwent a number of surveys assessing the levels of their fatigues, energy, depressive symptom, food consumption, sleep quality, and physical activities.

Baseline blood samples to measure levels of several inflammation-related proteins have also been extracted from the participants.

After that, the women were grouped according to their ages, stages of cancer, and cancer treatment received so researchers can generalize the results to a broad population of cancer survivors.

During the study, small groups of four to 20 women were asked to perform 90-minute yoga twice a week for 12 weeks. Women on the control groups were asked to go on with their usual routines and not yoga.

Twelve weeks after the formal yoga practice, the women in the yoga group reported a 41 percent decrease in fatigue and 12 percent higher energy levels compared to the control group. Additionally, the levels of three inflammation related proteins also decrease.

"We were really surprised by the data because some more recent studies on exercise have suggested that exercise interventions may not necessarily lower inflammation unless people are substantially overweight or have metabolic problems," Kiecolt-Glaser said in a press release.

"In this group, the women didn't lose weight, but we saw really marked reductions in inflammation. So this was a particularly striking finding biologically."

A follow-up study showed that a more regular yoga practice greater changes in fatigue, energy levels and depressive symptoms as well as between an average of four to six percent reduction in two of the three inflammation-related proteins in the blood. The yoga group also reported significantly improved sleep compared to the control group.

The study was published in the Jan.27 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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