Yoga-based therapies seem to improve the mental health of people struggling with the disease, as well as benefit their overall quality of life.
The number of studies that address the efficacy of yoga among cancer patients is steadily growing, and recently a group of Taiwanese researchers set out to survey this field of inquiry to see if any conclusions could be teased out.
The results, which appeared in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, indicate that yoga-based therapies seem to improve the mental health of people struggling with the disease, as well as benefit their overall quality of life.
Scientists from National Taiwan University's College of Medicine came to this tentative conclusion after sifting through hundreds of potential articles and ultimately settling on 10 former studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the survey.
After rating each study for its rigor and randomization, the team then analyzed its results. They found that participants in these yoga-based reports tended to experience stress relief, a lessening of depression and reductions in distress and anxiety.
The group concluded that although the papers included in the meta-study were of mixed quality, yoga appears to help people with cancer improve their state of mind, which can be crucial to dealing with overwhelming illnesses like cancer.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
Tags: cancer, relaxation technique, stress relief
