Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Yoga May Reduce Side Effects Of Prostate Cancer Treatment

Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Nov, 2015 12:34 PM
  • Yoga May Reduce Side Effects Of Prostate Cancer Treatment
Practicing yoga can improve quality of life of men with prostate cancer who are undergoing radiation therapy, says a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher.
 
The researchers found that general quality of life and measurements of side effects often experienced by prostate cancer patients - including fatigue, sexual health and urinary incontinence - were stable throughout a course of outpatient radiation therapy among the men participating in an intensive yoga programme.
 
"Data have consistently shown declines in these important measures among prostate cancer patients undergoing cancer therapy without any structured fitness interventions, so the stable scores seen with our yoga programme are really good news," said Neha Vapiwala, associate professor at Abramson Cancer Centre, University of Pennsylvania in the US.
 
The possible explanation for the benefits of yoga seen in the study stems from physiologic data demonstrating its ability to help reduce cancer-related fatigue and to strengthen pelvic floor muscles and increase blood flow. 
 
These latter aspects may in turn improve erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, Vapiwala said.
 
Between May 2013 and June 2014, the study participants attended twice-weekly yoga classes of 75 minutes each, taught by trained Eischens yoga instructors.
 
"Eischens yoga incorporates ideas from movement theory and kinesiology and is accessible to all body types and experience levels," said Tali Mazar Ben-Josef, certified Eischens yoga instructor and researcher at Abramson Cancer Centre.
 
Most yoga participants reported a sense of well-being at the end of each class, Ben-Josef said.
 
Severity of fatigue scores demonstrated significant variability over the time of treatment. Erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and general quality of life scores demonstrated steady trends.
 
The findings were presented at the Society of Integrative Oncology's 12th International Conference in Boston.

MORE Health ARTICLES

Dysfunctional protein causes Alzheimer's

Dysfunctional protein causes Alzheimer's
Debunking a prevalent theory of Alzheimer's development, researchers have now found that it is not the amyloid-beta (A-beta) protein fragments but the...

Dysfunctional protein causes Alzheimer's

Speech analyser could reveal mental health

Speech analyser could reveal mental health
A programme that analyses speech and uses it to gain information about one's mental health is in the works....

Speech analyser could reveal mental health

Recreational drug use linked to birth defects

Recreational drug use linked to birth defects
Babies born to mothers who used recreational drugs during pregnancy are more likely to have birth defects in the brain, said a study....

Recreational drug use linked to birth defects

Insomnia triples risk of motor accident deaths

Insomnia triples risk of motor accident deaths
Developing a healthy sleeping habit could be a life saviour as researchers have found that insomnia significantly increases risk of death caused by...

Insomnia triples risk of motor accident deaths

Public awareness needed to check breast cancer: Experts

Public awareness needed to check breast cancer: Experts
With around 1.5 lakh breast cancer cases being diagnosed every year in India, health experts Saturday called for more public awareness and community...

Public awareness needed to check breast cancer: Experts

Drugs to abet cancer cells suicide found

Drugs to abet cancer cells suicide found
The combination of two drugs, called TRAIL and a CDK9 inhibitor, forced the cancer cells to self-destruct, the findings showed....

Drugs to abet cancer cells suicide found