Yet Another Health Benefit of Yoga: This Time for Cancer Survivors

Great new study, well-conducted, with control groups, and a large sample size, shows the health benefits of yoga practice in cancer survivors.

Lay out the quick background:

• Cancer survivors often report fatigue
• Cancer treatment, which is often harsh, decreases physical activity
• Lack of physical activity increases inflammation
• Increase in inflammation has been linked to fatigue
• Therefore, increase in inflammation may be responsible for the fatigue experienced by cancer survivors

Tell me what the study asked:

Does practice of yoga decrease inflammation in cancer survivors and improve their mood?

Explain how this study was conducted:

• 200 early and late stage breast cancer survivors (all female)
• 27 to 76 years old
• At least 2 months following their final treatment
• Hatha Yoga
• Practiced for 90-minutes, twice per week
• For 3 months
• Excellent control condition: Wait-listed individuals and asked them to refrain from any yoga practice

I trust that you guys at ScientiFIT have evaluated the data… give me the punchline:

• Significantly less inflammation and less fatigue in yoga practitioners compared to control group who did not practice yoga
• Depression levels, however, were not different between the 2 groups

Give me the take home message:

• Yoga can reduce inflammation in cancer patients and may be an excellent way to reduce fatigue and lack of activity in that population