Washington: An American study has revealed that women who take yoga classes during radiation treatment for breast cancer may function better physically and feel better about their overall health.
Psychologist Lorenzo Cohen, who led the small study, says that it is the first to measure the benefits of yoga.
"Cancer and its treatments are associated with considerable distress, impaired quality of life and reduced physical function. This is particularly true for women with breast cancer who receive multi-modality treatment over an extended period of time," Cohen says.
"With our studies, we think that we could help ameliorate the treatment-related side effects that accumulate in cancer patients over time," he added.
"The main objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of integrating a daily yoga program into the treatment care plan for women with breast cancer undergoing radiation treatment," he said.
"Also to determine if this is something the patients found useful and enjoyable, as well as assessing aspects of their quality of life," he added.
Yoga programme incorporates meditation, relaxation, imagery, controlled breathing, stretching and physical movements.
Cohen and researchers at the University of Texas studied 61 women who were undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer.
Half of them did yoga, while the other half did not. At the end of six weeks, study participants filled out detailed questionnaires about their quality of life.
Cohen says that the yoga group reported increased physical function, as well as general health, compared to the control group.
The study participants also reported marginally better social functioning, significantly lower levels of sleep-related daytime dysfunction, as well as marginally lower levels of fatigue overall.
However, no differences in the level of depression or anxiety were found between the two groups.
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