National Breast Cancer
Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized
by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the
disease. October also provides an opportunity for charities to increase
public awareness of their work towards a cure and also to remind women of the
importance of early detection.
There is no cure for breast cancer so the goal of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against the disease. For those who are fortunate to fight and conquer the disease, life has its shares of ups and downs as a result.
Side effects are plentiful and one of the major setbacks that one third of breast cancer survivors experience is fatigue. Fatigue can affect their overall quality of life. Supplements, proper diet and exercise can help, but there is no "definitive" cure or treatments for fatigue.
A new study published in the journal "Cancer" finds that doing yoga might help restore some lost vitality. After three months of twice-weekly yoga classes, a group of breast cancer survivors in California reported significantly diminished fatigue and increased "vigor." A control group of women who took classes in post-cancer health issues, but didn't do yoga, had no changes in their fatigue or depression levels.
Dr. Maira Campos, a research scholar at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine said the findings show similar results from past studies that looked at yoga and cancer patients.
31 breast cancer survivors were chosen to undergo "treatment" for their fatigue over 12 weeks. Each woman was randomly assigned to participate in either two 90-minute yoga classes every week or a two-hour health class once a week.
The group taking the educational classes experienced about the same amount of fatigue and energy throughout the initial study period. However, the group taking the yoga class reported about a 26 percent drop in fatigue and a 55 percent increase in energy after the 12-week yoga regimen. The women in the yoga group also continued to report significant improvements in fatigue levels three months after the classes stopped.
Gaining a sense of control over one's physical body, when one has a disease like breast cancer, might be an important part of the benefit.
There is no cure for breast cancer so the goal of the NBCAM from the start has been to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against the disease. For those who are fortunate to fight and conquer the disease, life has its shares of ups and downs as a result.
Side effects are plentiful and one of the major setbacks that one third of breast cancer survivors experience is fatigue. Fatigue can affect their overall quality of life. Supplements, proper diet and exercise can help, but there is no "definitive" cure or treatments for fatigue.
A new study published in the journal "Cancer" finds that doing yoga might help restore some lost vitality. After three months of twice-weekly yoga classes, a group of breast cancer survivors in California reported significantly diminished fatigue and increased "vigor." A control group of women who took classes in post-cancer health issues, but didn't do yoga, had no changes in their fatigue or depression levels.
Dr. Maira Campos, a research scholar at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine said the findings show similar results from past studies that looked at yoga and cancer patients.
31 breast cancer survivors were chosen to undergo "treatment" for their fatigue over 12 weeks. Each woman was randomly assigned to participate in either two 90-minute yoga classes every week or a two-hour health class once a week.
The group taking the educational classes experienced about the same amount of fatigue and energy throughout the initial study period. However, the group taking the yoga class reported about a 26 percent drop in fatigue and a 55 percent increase in energy after the 12-week yoga regimen. The women in the yoga group also continued to report significant improvements in fatigue levels three months after the classes stopped.
Gaining a sense of control over one's physical body, when one has a disease like breast cancer, might be an important part of the benefit.
Yoga has been shown to provide relaxation,
support, and increased energy amid the turmoil of breast cancer. Anything to help people cope with this
dreaded disease and to assist in recovery is worth the effort. The study has shown that becoming more
mindful in taking time to slow down and breathe can actually enhance a person's
energy, vitality, recovery, and even spirituality.
In support of the Breast Cancer Awareness
Month Under One Umbrella will make a 5% donation to the 501(c)(3) Breast Cancer
Charity of your choice for every purchase made in the month of October.
A patient wrote this:
A patient wrote this:
Dear God,
I have developed a disease
which I have often feared. I am afraid. I am lonely. Questions crowd my mind:
Will I be cured? Will there be pain? How long will I live? How will my family
handle this? I ask with all my heart that I be healed. But, if my healing is
not in Your great plan, I trust You to be with me through it all. I trust You
to give me peace, to let me live with hope, to relieve any pain, and to let me
know Your presence. Amen.
--Courtesy of
Baptist Memorial Hospital
“People go through challenging
moments of losing people and of having their life threatened from illness and
real grief. But they get through it. And that's the testament to the human
spirit and it's -- we are fragile, but we also are divine”. Sheryl Crow
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