Just three months of yoga practice could reduce inflammation and fatigue in breast cancer survivors.
After six months (three months after the required practice had ended) symptoms of fatigue were about 57 percent lower in women who had participated when compared with a control group who did not practice yoga; inflammation went down about 20 percent, an Ohio State University news release reported.
The more the women practiced yoga the more their symptoms improved.
The study participants practiced small-group yoga twice a week for 2 weeks, the women in the control group were wait-listed to received the classes after the trial concluded.
"This showed that modest yoga practice over a period of several months could have substantial benefits for breast cancer survivors," Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychiatry and psychology at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study said in the news release.
"We also think the results could easily generalize to other groups of people who have issues with fatigue and inflammation," Kiecolt-Glaser, also an investigator in Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research said.
The study included 200 women, and is considered to be the " largest known randomized controlled trial that includes biological measures" on the subject.
Breast cancer survivors suffer a number of symptoms due to aggressive treatments.
"One of the problems they face is a real reduction in cardiorespiratory fitness. The treatment is so debilitating and they are so tired, and the less you do physically, the less you're able to do. It's a downward spiral," Kiecolt-Glaser said. "That's one reason we think there are higher levels of inflammation in cancer survivors, meaning that an intervention that reduces inflammation could potentially be very beneficial."
Inflammation can lead to other health complications such as arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes.
The breast cancer survivors (who were between the ages of 27 and 76) took a number of surveys addressing their symptoms. The team also looked at the women's' inflammation levels by testing for three telltale proteins.
Immediately after the active yoga phase of the trial ended the average participant reported a 41 percent drop in fatigue and a 12 percent higher vitality score.
"We were really surprised by the data because some more recent studies on exercise have suggested that exercise interventions may not necessarily lower inflammation unless people are substantially overweight or have metabolic problems," Kiecolt-Glaser said. "In this group, the women didn't lose weight, but we saw really marked reductions in inflammation. So this was a particularly striking finding biologically."
A secondary analysis showed the more frequently the subject practiced yoga the more their symptoms were relieved.
"Yoga has many parts to it - meditation, breathing, stretching and strengthening. We think the breathing and meditation components were really important in terms of some of the changes we were seeing," Kiecolt-Glaser said.
"We think improved sleep could be part of the mechanism of what we were seeing. When women were sleeping better, inflammation could have been lowered by that," Kiecolt-Glaser said. "Reducing fatigue enables women to engage in other activities over time. So yoga may have offered a variety of benefits in addition to the yoga."
