Yoga eases insomnia, fatigue and mood issues for cancer survivors in study

For most people, cancer recovery automatically comes with a new lease on life, but other survivors continue to experience physical and emotional difficulties long after treatment is over.

A recent clinical study found that yoga can significantly reduce the insomnia, fatigue, and mood disorders that many survivors experience after recovery.

Mood disturbance and insomnia are “two of the most common and bothersome side effects experienced by cancer survivors years after completing adjuvant treatments,” the researchers reported. Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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They noted that both symptoms can greatly hinder survivors’ ability to perform daily activities.

The study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, compared 204 cancer survivors who received only standard care with 206 who paired standard care with the Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS) program. Most of the participants were women who had survived breast cancer.

YOCAS is a four-week intervention that includes two types of yoga: hatha, which is traditional and more active, and restorative yoga, which is more passive. Both forms involve slow, gentle movements, breathing exercises and mindfulness, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). newsletter on the findings of the study.

Participants in the YOCAS group practiced yoga for an average of 180 minutes each week over three sessions.

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At the end of the trial, YOCAS participants reported overall improvements in mood, anxiety, and fatigue, while the standard care group did not.

“Additionally, improvements in insomnia resulting from YOCAS yoga, overall [mood disturbance] and fatigue,” the researchers wrote.

“[The study is] It is a significant advance because it offers survivors who are already managing multiple medications a non-pharmaceutical solution to reduce four different side effects simultaneously,” Fumiko Chino, MD, a cancer researcher and associate professor of breast radiation oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, told ASCO.

Cancer survivors often continue to struggle with physical and mental health problems after the disease has been successfully treated. (iStock)

D., Ph.D., director of supportive oncology at Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Timothy Pearman told Fox News Digital he wasn’t surprised by the study’s results.

“Yoga is one of the most studied and validated interventions for managing cancer-related fatigue, mood disorders, and overall physical health,” Pearman said.

Pearman said his wife, Jenny Finkel, is a yoga teacher and received her training at Duke University’s integrative medicine program, which focuses on yoga for cancer patients.

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“There are now a number of cancer-specific yoga teacher training programs across the country,” Pearman said. “Yoga is a great thing because it’s so modifiable, so even for people with severe physical impairments, the exercises can be modified so that everyone can participate.”

Yoga is also affordable, she added, because “all you need is a mat and someone to show you how to do it.”

Osteoporosis, increased risk of heart problems, and balance and endurance problems are other physical symptoms related to cancer treatment that yoga can help alleviate, Pearman said.

A recent study reported reduced anxiety and fatigue in cancer survivors who attended an average of three yoga classes per week for four weeks. (iStock)

Shari Botwin, a licensed clinical social worker based in Pennsylvania, is a thyroid cancer survivor who specializes in working with survivors of trauma, including cancer. She turned to yoga months after her diagnosis and told Fox News Digital that the practice was “transformative.”

According to Botwin, the cancer survivors she works with struggle with emotional challenges that impact their healing process, including depression and survivor’s guilt. In addition to the physical relief yoga can provide, she said, it can also offer “a supportive environment of peers, some of whom have cancer.”

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Botwin added that yoga can help survivors who have lost parts of their bodies reshape their thinking.

“It supports us moving to a place of self-compassion rather than shame and self-hatred,” she said.

Yoga may help cancer survivors struggling with guilt or shame find a community of understanding peers, some experts say. (iStock)

Almost any type of exercise can be beneficial for cancer survivors, Pearman said. He advises his patients to stick to the type of exercise they enjoyed before cancer.

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She also noted that free yoga classes for cancer survivors are widely available through various nonprofit organizations.