A recent study published in the ‘Journal of Evidence-Based And Alternative Medicine’, reported that dance/movement therapy (DMT), can successfully be used along with standard cancer treatment to improve mental health and quality of life in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Dance/movement therapy is a mind-body integrated form of psychotherapy which combines the benefits of dance, movement, emotional expression, social support, and creative activity in a single intervention.
Although survival rates of breast cancer continue to increase, it is often associated with long-term psychological distress, fatigue, chronic pain and impaired quality of life. Many women use complimentary therapies to manage these effects of breast cancer. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate whether DMT can improve quality of life, mental health and cancer-related symptoms in breast cancer women and whether it can be used as an appropriate complimentary medicine.
The study included a systematic literature review of studies based on DMT interventions and outcomes in breast cancer women. Data was collected from PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO, and Cochrane Central databases. The results revealed that, in all the studies, DMT had a positive effect in improving quality of life, and reduced fatigue, depression, anxiety and stress among breast cancer women. All studies involved in the review showed that complimentary therapies can significantly influence recovery and rehabilitation of breast cancer patients.
Thus, the results of the study indicated that DMT has a positive impact on mental health, physical health and quality of life in breast cancer patients and therefore can successfully be used as an addition to standard cancer treatment to improve overall quality of life.
Source: Fatkulina N, Hendrixson V, Rauckiene-Michealsson A, Kievisiene J, Razbadauskas A, Agostinis Sobrinho C. Dance/Movement Therapy as an Intervention in Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2021;2021:1-6.
Source link: https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2021/4989282.pdf
Know the cancer – Breast cancer treatment
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