Yoga improves treatment-related symptoms in men with prostate cancer

Decades of research show that yoga can reduce the emotional and physical fatigue brought on by cancer treatment. Now researchers have shown for the first time that’s also true specifically for men being treated for prostate cancer. Men who took a yoga class twice a week during treatment reported less fatigue, fewer sexual side effects, and better urinary functioning than men who did not, according a new study. “The data are convincing,” said the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Neha Vapiwala, an associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. “What we need now is a better understanding of how and why yoga produces these benefits.” Vapiwala and her colleagues enrolled 50 men with early or advanced non-metastatic prostate cancer who ranged in age from 53 to 85. Among them, 22 were assigned to the yoga group and the rest were not. All the men got scheduled radiation treatments during the study, 29 were also on hormonal therapy, and 19 had previously been treated surgically for prostate cancer. The groups were evenly balanced with respect to cancer treatments, in addition to other possible treatments for erectile and urinary problems. Men who already practiced yoga or were treated previously with radiation were ineligible for the study, as were men with metastatic prostate cancer. No experience needed The type of yoga assessed in the study, called Eischens yoga, focuses on holding and maintaining poses...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Prostate Health Yoga Source Type: blogs