Effect of yoga on sleep quality and neuroendocrine immune response in metastatic breast cancer patients

Abstract

Background:Studies have shown that distress and accompanying neuroendocrine stress responses as important predictor of survival in advanced breast cancer patients. Some psychotherapeutic intervention studies have shown have modulation of neuroendocrine-immune responses in advanced breast cancer patients. In this study, we evaluate the effects of yoga on perceived stress, sleep, diurnal cortisol, and natural killer (NK) cell counts in patients with metastatic cancer.Methods:In this study, 91 patients with metastatic breast cancer who satisfied selection criteria and consented to participate were recruited and randomized to receive “integrated yoga based stress reduction program” (n = 45) or standard “education and supportive therapy sessions” (n = 46) over a 3 month period. Psychometric assessments for sleep quality were done before and after intervention. Blood draws for NK cell counts were collected before and after the intervention. Saliva samples were collected for three consecutive days before and after intervention. Data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance on postmeasures using respective baseline measure as a covariate.Results:There was a significant decrease in scales of symptom distress (P < 0.001), sleep parameters (P = 0.02), and improvement in quality of sleep (P = 0.001) and Insomnia Rating Scale sleep score (P = 0.001) following intervention. There was a decrease in morning waking cortisol in yoga group (P = 0.003) alone following intervention. There was a significant improvement in NK cell percent (P = 0.03) following intervention in yoga group compared to control group.Conclusion:The results suggest modulation of neuroendocrine responses and improvement in sleep in patients with advanced breast cancer following yoga intervention.

Yoga for symptom management in oncology: A review of the evidence base and future directions for research

“…We identified 29 RCTs (see Table ): 13 RCTs were conducted during treatment (23 publications), 12 were conducted after treatment was completed (20 publications), and 4 included participants both during and after treatment. Only 4 studies included an active comparison group, such as supportive counseling, stretching, or a physical‐activity control group, and the others used a waitlist method or a usual‐care control group.…”

“…23,26,30,34,40,42 Some studies reported the mean number of classes attended (eg, 5.5 of 8 possible classes) 41,43 and mean hours of home practice (eg, 2.25 hours per week). 41 Others reported adherence ranging up to 81% Rao 2017, 24 Raghavendra 2007, 25 Rao 2008, 26,27 2009, 28 46 38 Mixed (I-III) WL 15 Carson 2009 47 37 Breast (I-II) WL 16 Banasik 2011 48 18 Breast (II-IV) WL 17 Littman 2012 Kiecolt-Glaser 2014, 56 Derry 2015 57 200 Breast (0-IIIA) WL 24 Loudon 2014, 58 2016 59 28 Breast (0-III) WL 25 Cramer 2015 60 40 Breast (I-III) WL 26 Hughes 2015, 61 Long Parma 2015 62 94 Breast (NR) PE c 27 Taylor 2018 63 33 Breast (I-III) WL 28 Rao 2017, 64 Vadiraja 2017 65 91 Breast (IV) SC Combined (during and post-treatment) 29 Cohen 2004 66 39 Lymphoma (I-IV) C WL 30 Moadel 2007 Cancer June 15, 2019 of participants attending all classes 39 and 100% engaging in 5 to 7 days of home practice per week. 34 Among studies that were conducted post-treatment, reporting of program adherence also varied (10 studies reported some measure of adherence).…”

Impact of Yoga on Inflammatory Biomarkers: A Systematic Review

“…The present review was unique because it examined yoga apart from other mind-body therapies. Yoga interventions reduced inflammation in three of the five studies involving cancer (Bower et al, 2014;Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 2014;Rao et al, 2017), three of the four studies involving cardiovascular disease (Pullen et al, 2008;Pullen et al, 2010;Sarvottam et al, 2013), three of the four studies involving chronic stress conditions (Cho et al, 2015;Rajbhoj et al, 2015;Shete et al, 2017), one study involving rheumatoid arthritis (Singh et al, 2011), and one with a mixed sample of individuals with chronic conditions (Yadav et al, 2012).…”

The Effects of High-Temperature Weather on Human Sleep Quality and Appetite

“…Nevertheless, insufficient sleep may disrupt the body’s cognitive function and immune function. For instance, sleep disorders can cause changes in immune mechanism-neuroendocrine-thermoregulation, and then result in a pathological process [1,2]. In recent years, high-temperature weather has shown the characteristics of high frequency, high intensity, and long duration [3,4].…”

“…In actual life, a high-temperature environments is common when hot weather occurs [2]. In some places, such as school classrooms, student dormitories, security pavilion and remote places, air conditioners are not offered, people have to stay in these places for a long time and their sleep quality and appetite are adversely affected by high temperatures [5,6,7].…”