Up to 95 per cent of cancer survivors experience poor sleep or insomnia, and more than half experience mood disturbances, anxiety or fatigue during or after cancer treatment.
According to a US study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, yoga may help reduce these symptoms.
The phase III randomised controlled trial included 410 cancer survivors who were assigned to either a four-week structured yoga programme called Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS) plus standard survivorship care or just standard survivorship care, which included maintenance therapy, follow-up visits, and monitoring for side effects.
The yoga group attended two 75-minute instructor-led sessions each week, along with at least 30 minutes of home yoga practice. The YOCAS programme included 18 gentle hatha and restorative yoga postures, breathing exercises and mindfulness.
The average age of participants was 54 and 75 per cent were breast cancer survivors.
Compared with those who received standard survivorship care, participants in the YOCAS programme had significantly lower levels of overall mood disturbance, anxiety and fatigue, which contributed to improved sleep.
“This large, randomised 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,” a cancer researcher commented.
