Patients undergoing radiotherapy who practiced a 60 minute yoga class 3 time per week for 6 weeks experienced:
- reduced cortisol levels
- improved physical functioning
- less fatigue (Chandwani, 2014)
Cancer survivors who practiced 12 weeks of Hatha yoga for 90 minutes 2x’s a week experienced:
- improved sleep
- reduced inflammation (Kiecolt-Glaser 2014)
After 7-weeks of yoga, cancer survivors experienced:
- reduced mood disturbance & stress symptoms
- improved health-related quality of life (HRQL) (Mackenzie 2013)
A meta-analysis of published RCTs involving cancer patients & survivors showed yoga:
- reduced distress, fatigue, anxiety & depression
- increased general quality of life (QoL), emotional function & social function and well-being (Buffart 2012)
Breast cancer survivors who practiced Iyengar Yoga showed improvement in fatigue scores from pre- to post-yoga intervention. Improvement was maintained at the 3-month post-intervention followup. (Bower 2012)
132 published studies.18 RCTs reported positive effects in yoga intervention groups:
- treatment-related side effects
- QOL scores
- emotional well-being (Cramer 2012)
A literature review reported yoga:
- improved sleep & QoL
- reduced anxiety, depression, distress, post-chemotherapy nausea & vomiting (Harder 2012)
25 breast cancer survivors with low QoL showed improvement in depression & anxiety scores after yoga intervention. (Levine)
39 patients with lymphoma participated in 7 weekly yoga sessions or wait-list control. Patients in the yoga intervention reported:
- lower sleep disturbance scores: sleep quality, faster sleep latency, longer sleep duration
- reduced use of sleep medications (Cohen)
Yoga meets ACS recommendations for increasing physical activity during & after breast cancer treatment & induces relaxation. Patients in the study reported:
- benefits from structure & intensity level of the class (75% of patients)
- reduced joint aches & shoulder stiffness (25%)
- decreased stress levels (88%)
- improved mood with less anxiety (63%) (Blank)
Findings suggest practicing yoga reduces postoperative distress, prevents immune suppression following surgery; reduced anxiety, depression and treatment-related symptoms. Yogis also reported improved QoL (Rao)
Yogic breathing (pranayama) intervention improved sleep disturbance, anxiety & mental quality of life among 16 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy (Dhruva)
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