Yoga May Help Cancer Survivors Sleep Better and Reduce Anxiety, Fatigue
ASCO Perspective Quote
“This large, randomized study shows that structured yoga may help relieve some of the most consistently reported and hard-to-treat issues in cancer survivorship, leading to decreased insomnia. It’s an important advance because it offers survivors, who are likely already managing multiple medications, a non-pharmaceutical solution for reducing four different side effects at once,” said Fumiko Chino, MD, a cancer researcher and associate professor in breast radiation oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and an ASCO Expert in survivorship.
About the Study
“There is no single gold standard behavioral treatment available to survivors for treating overall mood disturbance, anxiety, fatigue, and insomnia. By demonstrating that YOCAS intervention improves all four of these cancer-related side effects and showing how improvements in overall mood disturbance, anxiety, and fatigue influence yoga’s effect on insomnia, this trial helps to fill that gap,” said lead study author Yuri Choi, PhD, MSN, RN, a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS) is a 4-week intervention that uses 18 gentle hatha and restorative yoga poses, breathing exercises, and mindfulness to improve symptoms in cancer survivors. The intervention includes two 75-minute instructor-led yoga classes and additional home-based yoga practice for at least 30 minutes or more per week. Both hatha and restorative yoga focus on slow, gentle movements and still postures using props. They also both integrate breathing and mindfulness techniques.
