Integrative Medicine in Breast Cancer Treatments

Have you heard the good news?

Hot off the presses are the results of two studies that indicate yoga as well as resistance exercise can aid in improving the quality of life in women undergoing treatment for early stages of breast cancer.

The first study, called the Supervised Trial of Aerobic versus Resistance Training (START) trial, found that women whose exercise routines employed resistance training tactics had better completion rates for their chemotherapy treatments. This study is significant not only for its promising results, but also because it is currently the largest trial to explore the effects of exercise, and specifically resistance training, in relation to alternative healing methods and breast cancer.

Further research is still needed to determine how exercise actually works in the body as an integrative medicine tactic with chemotherapy, but early hypotheses speculate it could be related to an increase in white blood cell numbers.

The second study reporting good news compared women with early stages of breast cancer who participated in a 12-week yoga class versus those women who did not take any yoga classes.

The women not partaking in yoga classes reported a drop in their overall social well-being and quality of life.

You can read more details on the results of both studies in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), September 4th edition.