Breast cancer yoga helps reduce stress

A US study pointed out today that practicing yoga can help reduce stress and improve their quality of life compared to breast cancer patients who do general stretching exercises.

Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center interviewed 163 women with an average of 52 years old. They were patients with early to stage 3 breast cancer and artificial breast surgery who were receiving fixed radiation therapy.

The researchers randomly divided them into three groups: yoga group, simple stretching group, and unsupervised group.

Patients with breast cancer prosthetic breast bras assigned to the yoga group or stretching group practiced for an hour three times a week during the 6-week radiation therapy period.

After completing radiotherapy, they must report on their physical and mental health every 1, 3, and 6 months. They also need to undergo tests to measure heart function and stress hormone concentrations.

Research found that women in the yoga and stretching groups were less likely to feel tired than breast cancer patients who did not exercise.

But the yoga group reported "greater benefits in terms of physical function and overall health, and were more likely than other groups to view changes in life positively based on the experience of cancer."

The study also found that the yoga group "had the largest decrease in cortisol concentrations over the day, indicating that yoga helps control this stress hormone." (Editor in charge: Chen Shaopeng)