Yoga Can Improve Sleep in Cancer Patients

The first study to look at the use of yoga by cancer patients found the combination of movement and meditation led to better sleep, report researchers at Rice and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The small study concluded that lymphoma patients who practiced Tibetan yoga for seven weeks fell asleep faster, slept longer, and felt that their overall quality of sleep improved, compared with a control group of patients with lymphoma who did not practice yoga. Those who practiced yoga also used less sleep medication. The study was reported in the April 15 online issue of the journalCancer.

The study had 39 patients randomized to either yoga practice or to a wait-list. The distribution of cancer stage across the participants was even, and 15 patients in each group were not receiving treatment at the time for their lymphoma. Patients in the yoga group were asked to attend seven weekly yoga sessions at M.D. Anderson. In the patient evaluations, all of the people who practiced yoga said they found the program useful, and more than half said they practiced some aspect of the program at least twice a week during the follow-up period.

Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, a graduate student in religious studies at Rice and co-author of the study, says the results have been encouraging. “This is another way to help with the healing process,” he says. A long-time practitioner of yoga, Chaoul-Reich says yoga can enhance a person’s meditative practice and allow them to be more in touch with their inner self. Yoga also can greatly reduce stress levels. “It is a good option,” he notes, “because you work with your body, energy, and mind. It can help you change your lifestyle. It’s very helpful in the way you live and relate to illness and other people.”

Although the study did not find differences between the groups in other quality-of-life measures, such as anxiety, depression, and fatigue, the study’s lead author, Lorenzo Cohen, indicates this was likely because the study was conducted during a short period of time. Cohen, an associate professor in the departments of behavioral science and palliative care and rehabilitation medicine and the director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, says practitioners of yoga told researchers the techniques need to be practiced for at least six months before full benefits can be appreciated. “It’s remarkable,” he says, “that after seven weekly classes we were able to see significant improvements in overall sleep quality across a three-month follow-up time frame.”

Yoga usually includes regulated breathing, moving through various postures, and meditations. The type most commonly practiced in the West primarily comes from the Indian tradition, specifically the form known as Hatha yoga. Less commonly practiced is Tibetan yoga, about which little is known and whose benefits have not been researched, Cohen says. Chaoul-Reich, who led the weekly yoga sessions, points out that Tibetan yoga is different from other forms of yoga because the postures repeat particular movements and the breath is held.

“We believe this form of yoga may be particularly useful for patients undergoing and recovering from chemotherapy,” Cohen says. “The objective of using yoga in patients who have been or are being treated for cancer is not necessarily to increase length of life but to improve the quality of life. In cancer patients, fatigue is not necessarily directly related to the quality of sleep, but given such a small study, the fact that sleep was improved suggests that the health effects of yoga should be further explored.”

An ongoing study by Cohen and other researchers is measuring the levels of stress hormones and immune function in breast cancer patients practicing Tibetan yoga.

The study was funded by a grant from the Bruce S. Gelb Foundation. The co-authors are Carla Warneke and Alma Rodriguez of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rachel Fouladi of Simon Fraser University.