CAM: Yoga, Tai Chi

Intro and Background
Yoga is an ancient Eastern tradition which has many different styles and schools of thought. Generally, yoga can be characterized by breathing, meditation, and posture techniques. The type of yoga that is most commonly practiced in the United States is of the Indian tradition of Hatha yoga. ⁽¹⁾ Yoga has been practice in Asian countries for thousands of years and has been used to treat a wide variety of diseases.  ⁽²⁾ Recently, in Western culture yoga has been suggested to treat a variety of ailments such as arthritis ⁽³⁾, asthma ⁽⁴⁾, coronary artery disease ⁽⁵⁾, and epislepsy. ⁽⁶⁾ Tai Chi is a similar form of body manipulation in which slow, graceful movements are combined with breathing techniques. ⁽⁷⁾ Both of these practices can be viewed of types of aerobic exercises that can decrease nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and depression that is associated with many cancer treatments. ^{(8) (9)}

Scientific Research
Most of the research pertaining to yoga and cancer study how yoga can help ease side effects of the disease and treatments. Numerous studies have shown that yoga can help cancer patients with general health as well as side effects from cancer therapies (i.e. depression, loss of sleep, physical weakness, etc).^{(10) (11) (12)(13)} The quality of life of cancer patients has also consistently benefitted from yoga. ^{(10) (11) (12)(13)}

Currently there are many studies underway to investigate the benefit of yoga and tai chi on cancer patients and survivors at various institutions.
Visit the National Cancer Institute to learn more about ongoing clinical trials involving yoga.
Visit the National Cancer Institute to learn more about ongoing clinical trials involving tai chi
To learn more about clinical trials visit our section on Finding Clinical Trials.

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2. Bower JE, Woolery A, Sternlieb B, Garet D. Yoga for cancer patients and survivors. Cancer Control. (2005) 12 (3):165-71 [PUBMED]
3. Garfinkel M, Schumacher HR Jr. Yoga. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. (2000) 26: 125-132 [PUBMED]
4. Vedanthan PK, Kesavalu LN, Murthy KC, et al. Clinical study of yoga techniques in university students with asthma: a controlled study. Allergy Asthma Proc. (1998) 19: 39 [PUBMED]
5. Mahajan AS, Reddy KS, Sachdeva U. Lipid profile of coronary risk subjects following yogic lifestyle intervention. Indian Heart J. (1999) 51: 3740 [PUBMED]
6. Yardi N. Yoga for control of epilepsy. Seizure. (2001) 10(1): 7-12 [PUBMED]
7. Lee MS, Pittler MH, Ernst E. Is tai chi an effective adjunct in cancer care? A systematic review of controlled clinical trials. Support Care Cancer. (2007) Feb 21 [PUBMED]
8. McNeely ML, Campbell KL, Rowe BH, Klassen TP, Mackey JR, Courneya KS. Effects of exercise on breast cancer patients and survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. CMAJ. (2006) 175(1): 34-41 [PUBMED]
9. Visovsky C, Dvorak C. Exercise and cancer recovery. Online J Issues Nurs. (2005) 10:7. [PUBMED]
10. Culos-Reed SN, Carlson LE, Daroux LM, Hately-Aldous S. A pilot study of yoga for breast cancer survivors: physical and psychological benefits. Psychooncology.(2006) 15(10): 891-7 [PUBMED]
11. Rosenbaum E, Gautier H, Fobair P, et al. Cancer supportive care, improving the quality of life for cancer patients. A program evaluation report. Support Care Cancer. (2004) 12(5): 293-301 [PUBMED]
12. Carson JW, Carson KM, Porter LS, Keefe FJ, Shaw H, Miller JM. Yoga for women with metastatic breast cancer: results from a pilot study. J Pain Symptom Manage. (2007) 33(3): 331-41 [PUBMED]
13. Bower JE, Garet D, Sternlieb B, Ganz PA, Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Greendale G. Yoga for persistent fatigue in breast cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial. Cancer. 2011 Dec 16. doi: 10.1002/cncr.26702. [Epub ahead of print] [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.26702/abstract] [PUBMED]