Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive
Cancer Centre have found a link between yoga and lower rates of inflammation in
breast cancer survivors. Scientists followed nearly 200 breast cancer survivors
for five years and found that six months after taking up yoga, fatigue levels
dropped 57 percent and inflammation dropped as much as 20 per cent.
Practicing yoga for as little as three months can reduce
fatigue and lower inflammation in breast cancer survivors, according to new
research. The more the women in the study practiced yoga, the better their
results.
At the six-month point of the study - three months after the
formal yoga practice had ended - results showed that on average, fatigue was 57
per cent lower in women who had practiced yoga compared to the non-yoga group,
and their inflammation was reduced by up to 20 per cent.
The participants had completed all breast cancer treatments
before the start of the study and only yoga novices were recruited for the
randomized, controlled clinical trial.
Participants practiced yoga in small groups twice a week for
12 weeks. Women making up the control group were wait-listed to receive the
same yoga sessions once the trial was over. During the study, they were
instructed to go about their normal routines and not to do yoga.
Though many studies have suggested that yoga has numerous
benefits, this is the largest known randomized controlled trial that includes
biological measures. Researchers recruited 200 women for the study.
The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
