Complementary Success ~ Yoga and Cancer

The article below was written by Krista Peterson, a recent college graduate who has a strong interest in spreading awareness of such issues as cancer and chronic illness.

More and more people are seemingly taking up yoga these days. The benefits from an exercising and physical health standpoint are second to none. The benefits of yoga are also being taken advantage of by patients of cancer and other terminal illnesses. While yoga may not cure diseases, it’s commonly being used as a complementary option in the therapy process.

Yoga’s major help to these patients often involves its ability to have an impact on lessening the side effects of traditional treatment therapies. A therapy process like chemo can be long and exhausting, while often times bringing on bouts of nausea and diarrhea. Yoga can help to reduce the pain and exhaustion that comes along with chemo and has often been shown to reduce nausea as well.

Yoga’s breathing and stretching exercises have been shown to improve sleep patterns and cut down on the dependency on sedatives. Yoga allows these patients to return to something that may have been common in their everyday lives. A 2010 study by the American Society of Clinical Oncology tested over 400 participants who all showed great benefits from routine yoga time added onto their normal treatment schedule.

Even though evidence has mounted toward the success of yoga as a complementary therapy option, health insurance and government programs still don’t provide financial support for patients looking to take part. Continued research looking for scientific evidence is being invested to further the push towards some kind of support system, even if it’s small at first.

Yoga’s effect has been felt and used by myriad patients with diabetes, arthritis, leukemia, mesothelioma and other cancer types. It has been a help to arthritis patients with their flexibility and total range of motion. Overall it can provide a time of peace that is rare in treatment. This time of tranquility and peace can often be extremely valuable. For some patients, this time of peace can play an extra important role. Because there is no mesothelioma cure, these patients often value yoga as a time to reflect, find peace of mind, relax, and experience tranquility in some of the closing stages of their lives.

The full impact of yoga on terminal illness patients has yet to be felt. Increased studies and research will hopefully signal more support and access to yoga for patients of all diseases. Given its ability to have a positive effect on both the physical and mental scale, yoga is certain to continue to gain popularity as a complementary treatment.

Krista's Bio: Krista Peterson is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer. As a health and safety advocate, she shares a strong passion for the wellness of others in her community. Krista has been practicing yoga for 3 years and loves to encourage others to do so as well. Through her writings, she helps to spread awareness of such issues as cancer and chronic illness and how they can be treated. Contact her at krista.peterson925 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Yoga for Cancer Treatment

Donna Karan's Urban Zen Offers Integrative Therapy To Cancer Patients And Their Families Article found at: www.huffingtonpost.com. Written by Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald.

When one thinks of the medical oncology unit at a major hospital, the inhalation of uplifting aromas, a feeling of sanctuary, opportunities for centering and relaxation, and guidance through restorative yoga poses are usually not what first comes to mind.

It could be a reality if you were at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, where integrative therapists are assisting doctors and nurses in providing comfort and care to cancer patients.

World-famous fashion designer Donna Karan, in conjunction with her Urban Zen Foundation, is developing this unique program which provides support to cancer patients and their families, as well as the hospital staff itself. Urban Zen trains the "integrative therapists," who facilitate the support in the form of yoga, meditation, and aromatherapy to comfort those in the inpatient oncology unit at Beth Israel. The integrative therapists also act as patient navigators, hand holding the patients and their families throughout the often rocky and scary road from diagnosis through treatment.

The program is the result of inspiration from Donna Karan, who lost her beloved husband Stephan Weiss, an artist and her business partner, to lung cancer in June 2001. Karan shares that while she is grateful for the wonderful doctors who treated her husband, something she noticed was a need to provide care and comfort for patients as well as treating the disease. This new program grew from the complementary modalities she added to Weiss's care from her knowledge of Eastern approaches.

To read the whole article click here.

Sara's note: This sounds like a great program. The idea that Eastern and Western therapy should be independent of eachother feels antiquated to me. Integrating therapies is holistic and sensible.

Restorative yoga may have positive effects for breast cancer patients

Restorative yoga may provide some relief of fatigue and depression problems for women with breast cancer, according to a new study.

The pilot study, published Wednesday in the journal of Psycho-Oncology, assigned 44 participants to a restorative yoga or a control group. The average age of participants was 56 and more than a third of the women were undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

The yoga group took 10 weekly 75-minute classes that combined physical postures, breathing and deep relaxation. By using props participants were able to find a comfortable position so they could hold the poses for several minutes.

Researchers found women who practiced this gentler version of the popular mind-body therapy had a 50 percent reduction in depression and a 12 percent increase in feelings of peacefulness.

Read the whole article here: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=118827