Tai chi relieves insomnia in breast cancer survivors

UCLA Health If you ’ve ever had insomnia, you know worrying about sleep makes it even harder to fall asleep. For the 30 percent of breast cancer survivors who have insomnia, sleepless nights can lead to depression, fatigue and a heightened risk of disease.Now, new UCLA research shows that tai chi, a form of slow-moving meditation, is just as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been considered the “gold standard” treatment, with both showing enduring benefits over one year.The results, published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, show that tai chi promotes robust improvements in sleep health in breast cancer survivors with insomnia, with additional benefits of improving depressive symptoms and fatigue.  Furthermore, both tai chi and cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a form of talk therapy, showed similar rates of clinically significant improvements in symptoms or remission of insomnia.The American Academy of Sleep Medicine considers cognitive behavioral therapy the treatment of choice for insomnia. This approach involves identifying and changing negative thoughts and behaviors that are affecting the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.While cognitive behavioral therapy treats insomnia, it ’s too expensive for some people and there is a shortage of trained professionals in the field, said Dr. Michael Irwin, the study’s lead author and a UCLA professor of psychiatry.“Because of those limitations, we need community-based intervention...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news