Yoga is now a globally recognized as a therapy to improve physical and mental health. The American Society of Medical Oncology (ASCO) has recognized yoga as a beneficial therapy for breast cancer patients during and after cancer treatment. In this article, we would understand how Yoga helps to improve health, prevent cancers and helps patients with breast cancers to recuperate.
Yoga for health
Yoga has a tremendous impact on all our body systems. Some of them are mentioned as follows:
- Musculoskeletal health: Yoga improves muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and posture. It also helps to relieve symptoms of conditions like arthritis and low back pain.
- Heart health: Yoga helps to improve blood pressure, lower blood sugar levels, maintain healthy body weight, and quit smoking. All these benefits can curb the development or progression of heart disease.
- Mental health: Yoga boosts mood, helps you overcome stress and improves sleep. Studies have shown that yoga is beneficial for patients with anxiety and depression.
- Improves immunity: Yoga improves your ability to fight infections and reduces inflammation.
Yoga for cancer prevention:
Regular practice of yoga can help you steer away from the factors that increase risk of cancer. Let us find out how:
- Stress: Stress hormones inhibit a process called anoikis, which kills diseased cells and prevents their spread. Plus, chronic stress can increase blood pressure and damage blood vessels. Yoga calms you down and relieves physical and mental stress. Studies have shown that practicing yoga helps reduce stress hormone levels like cortisol.
- Obesity: Obesity can cause prolonged inflammation, increase levels of circulating insulin, insulin like growth factors and sex hormones- all these may eventually lead to cancer. Numerous studies have shown that yoga can help to reduce body mass index, waist circumference and lipid levels in the blood. Yoga also helps to develop mindful eating patterns; it prevents overeating and promotes nutritious food intake.
- Smoking: Cigarette smoke contains chemicals which can cause genetic changes in the cell that may lead to cancer. Moreover, it also prevents immune system from recognizing the diseased cells- this causes faster development and spread of cancer. Several studies have pointed out that yoga reduces the severity of withdrawal symptoms in people who are trying to quit smoking and also, reduce smoking cravings-this makes it easier to help people to quit smoking.
- Low immunity: A healthy immune system is imperative to identify cancer cells and destroy them before they develop into full fledged cancers. Studies have shown that yoga helps to improve immunity and reduce inflammation- both of which are important for preventing cancers.
Yoga for mental health in breast cancer patients- the need
Patients diagnosed with breast cancer may experience excessive fear, anxiety and intrusive thoughts related to cancer, its treatments, and its financial repercussions. All these can lead to significant psychological burden. This affects the ability to cope with cancer and its treatment, regress immune function, and may even worsen cancer.
Breast cancer treatment often involves chemoradiation which have severe side effects like changes in appearance, hair loss, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, pain, recurrent infections, brain fog etc. All these issues significantly impact a person’s ability to do day to day activities and takes a toll on the physical, mental, and emotional health. Cancer management largely focusses on curbing cancer and preventing its spread. The profundity of the psychological aspect of cancer is often neglected.
A large body of research tells us that yoga helps one to gain control over thoughts and emotions and promotes mental well-being. Yoga brings about favorable neurochemical changes in the brain which helps to overcome stress, anxiety, and depression. Patients with cancer are at extremely prone to mental illnesses and yoga might be a magical solution to keep mental issues at bay.
Yoga for breast cancer patients – What does research say?
Numerous studies have been done to find out the impact of yoga for breast cancer patients. Here, we have collated the results:
Mental health benefits: Regular practice of yoga can
- Improve cognitive function and emotional well being
- Boost mood
- Improve stress control even in difficult situations
Physical health benefits: Regular practice of yoga can
- Improve cardiorespiratory endurance(exercise capacity)
- Improve muscle strength and flexibility
- Prevent and manage lymphedema (a common complication of breast cancer treatment)
- Improve sleep
- Improve cancer related symptoms (pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting)
Yoga and life after breast cancer treatment
The most important goal of post treatment management (follow up) is to prevent recurrence of breast cancer. Yoga helps to keep stress in check and strengthens the immune system which may inhibit cancer recurrence. Post treatment, many patients complain of having persistent fatigue; yoga has also been shown to improve fatigue, improve capacity to do day to day activities and improve quality of living.
Yoga should be performed under the guidance of an experienced yoga therapist or a physical therapist. These professionals can help to determine which asanas need to be avoided to prevent risks such as lymphedema (arm swelling), bone injury, and joint pain.
In sum, yoga is a highly safe and effective means to cope with the mental and physical burden of cancer during and after cancer diagnosis and treatment. Regular practice of yoga (under professional guidance) can help breast cancer patients to regain normalcy faster.
For more help, information and appointments, follow through this link: https://www.drpragnya.com/book-an-appointment/
References:
• Obročníková A, Majerníková L. Yoga in the life of a cancer patient – a narrative review. Health Prob Civil. 2021; 15(3): 218-224.
• Cramer H, Lange S, Klose P, Paul A, Dobos G. Yoga for breast cancer patients and survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Cancer. 2012;12:412. Published 2012 Sep 18. doi:10.1186/1471-2407-12-412
• Julienne E. Bower, Alison Woolery, Beth Sternlieb, Deborah Garet. Yoga for Cancer Patients and Survivors. Cancer Control. July 2005, Vol. 12 (3): 165-171
• Agarwal and Maroko‑Afek. Yoga into cancer care. International Journal of Yoga. January‑April 2018. Volume 11 (1): 3-29
• For Breast Cancer Survivors, Life is Better With Yoga. Available from https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/for-breast-cancer-survivors-life-is-better-with-yoga.html. Accessed on 9/6/22
• James M McKivigan. Yoga therapy and breast cancer. Clin. Pract. (2017) 14(5), 343-347
Know the cancer – Breast cancer treatment
Previous : Smoking and Breast Cancer- What is the relationship?