New research presented at the Society of Integrative Oncology’s 12th International Conference indicates that yoga may help men undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer by alleviating some of the side effects and helping them maintain their quality of life.
Yoga’s benefits for other ailments
It’s not the first time yoga has been touted for its ability to help people dealing with health issues. Previous studies published on Medical News Today have indicated that yoga might improve the quality of life for people with breast cancer and those with arthritis. In addition, yoga has been shown to help people with stress, anxiety and depression.
Side effects of prostate cancer treatment
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the U.S. for men (after skin cancer) and it affects about one in seven men.
Radiation is often very effective in treating prostate cancer, but it can pose some serious side effects, including urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction and fatigue.
For the study, 45 men agreed to do 75 minutes of Eischens yoga two times each week while they were receiving treatment for prostate cancer. Of those, 18 withdrew from yoga early because of scheduling issues with yoga and radiation therapy sessions.
The researchers had the men complete a series of questionnaires through their radiation treatments and yoga sessions. They found that although urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction didn’t necessarily improve, it remained steady instead of getting worse as radiation therapy continued. Even better, fatigue and quality of life improved.
Yoga’s benefits for radiation treatment for prostate cancer
According to the researchers, it’s likely that yoga helped these men for a number of reasons.
First, earlier studies have shown that yoga may strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and increase blood flow. This would explain why doing yoga seemed to help the men with urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
There’s also a psychosocial benefit from doing group yoga, which includes meditation. Both might help with fatigue and a general increased sense of well-being.
