Yoga gets results during radiation for breast ca.(Gynecology)(benefits)

ATLANTA -- Participation in a yoga program during breast cancer treatment is feasible and may improve quality of life, Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The study, designed mainly to examine the feasibility of integrating yoga into the treatment plan for women with breast cancer who are undergoing radiation treatment, involved a total of 62 women with stages O-III disease. Patients were randomized to a group that participated in yoga twice weekly during treatment or to a "wait-list control group" that was scheduled to participate in a postradiation yoga program.

Not only was recruitment simple and patient interest and satisfaction with the program high, but also after just 1 week of yoga, patients in the intervention group reported significantly improved physical function (mean adjusted short form-36 health status survey scores of 81.8 vs. 68.6) and general health (mean adjusted SF-36 scores of 78.3 vs. 67.9), and significantly less sleep-related daytime dysfunction (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores of 0.5 vs. 1.2), compared with the control group, Dr. Cohen said.

The yoga group also had marginally better SF-36 scores for social functioning and fatigue at 1 week. However, no differences in anxiety or depression scores were noted between the groups, Dr. Cohen, director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center ...