Cancer sufferers should do yoga to stop the disease from spreading or returning, according to a new study.
The research suggests that taking part in the low-impact exercise can reduce inflammation - a key factor that triggers cancer to grow, latest evidence suggests. Inflammation was found to be a key trigger of cancer growth around the body.
Previous studies have suggested that older people who develop cancer are around 18 per cent less likely to die if they remain active during their illness. Additionally, inactivity is known to increase risk of developing cancer due to health and weight implications related to lack of fitness and exercise.
To explore the potential benefits of yoga in terms of cancer progression, the latest study involved 500 cancer survivors aged 56 on average, recruited from across the US.
Half of the participants took part in two 75-minute yoga sessions two times per week for one month, with the others sitting the sessions out. Each person had their blood tested before and after the four-week long study.
The participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or intervention group, with each having suffered with cancer between two months and five years previous to the beginning of the study.
Presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world's largest cancer conference, the study was led by the University of Rochester Medical Centre.
The scientists found that those taking up yoga had “significantly lower levels of pro-inflammatory markers” compared to the levels measures in patients from the other group.
Study author Karen Mustian, from the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York, said: “The basic take-home story is that inflammatory chemicals were lowered by the yoga.
“In the last 20 years, we’ve moved beyond asking the question, should we be encouraging things like traditional exercise yoga, tai chi for patients? The answer is yes.”
She added: “Now, the question is exactly what should we do? I think if you come from the health and fitness industry you think it should become a lifestyle, but from a medical perspective, you want to know what is the least amount of exercise that can be done which is effective.”
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