Effects of Tibetan Yoga on Fatigue and Sleep in Cancer

描述（由申请人提供）：癌症及其治疗与相当大的痛苦、生活质量受损、精神健康状况不佳和身体功能下降有关。对于长期接受多模式治疗的乳腺癌患者来说尤其如此。许多妇女接受手术和化疗，之后通常进行放射治疗。重要的是要制定可以纳入治疗计划的方案，以帮助改善随着时间的推移而积累的治疗相关发病率。研究表明，针对癌症治疗环境量身定制的减压计划可能有助于患者应对治疗的急性影响，并改善治疗后的生活质量。瑜伽是一门古老的东方科学，结合了减压技术，包括调节呼吸、视觉想象、冥想以及各种姿势。尽管在许多东方国家都有不同形式的瑜伽练习，但西方对瑜伽的了解大多来自印度传统。鲜为人知的是来自西藏的瑜伽练习。几千年来，西藏人一直在使用一种瑜伽，它结合了控制呼吸和观想、正念技巧和姿势。我们为癌症患者设计并试点了一个藏传瑜伽项目，发现进行干预是可行的，并且有一些初步的迹象表明，干预可以改善调整。我们假设，我们设计的瑜伽课程对正在接受辅助治疗的乳腺癌患者特别有用，因为瑜伽课程的重点是控制呼吸、观想和正念技术，以及一些低冲击的轻柔姿势。这项拟议的研究将评估西藏瑜伽项目对接受辅助化疗的乳腺癌妇女的生理和心理益处。计划接受化疗的乳腺癌患者将被随机分配到西藏瑜伽组或教育支持组。本研究还将评估心理社会因素介导和/或调节干预计划的程度，并预测患者的康复和对治疗的适应。干预的效果应该在整个康复过程中以及生理和心理指标中都很明显。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cancer and its treatment are associated with considerable distress, impaired quality of life, poor mental health, and reduced physical function. This is particularly true for women with breast cancer who receive multimodal treatment over an extended period of time. Many women undergo surgery and chemotherapy, which are often followed by radiotherapy. It is important to develop programs that can be incorporated into the treatment schedule that can help ameliorate the treatment-related morbidity that accumulates over time. Research suggests that stress-reduction programs tailored to the cancer treatment setting may help patients cope with the acute effects of treatment and improve their quality of life after treatment. Yoga, an ancient Eastern science, incorporates stress-reduction techniques including regulated breathing, visual imagery, and meditation, as well as various postures. Although different forms of yoga are practiced in many Eastern countries, most of what is known about yoga in the West comes from the Indian tradition. Less well know are the yogic practices from Tibet. For thousands of years, Tibetan's have been employing a form of yoga that incorporates controlled breathing and visualization, mindfulness techniques, and postures. We have designed and pilot-tested a Tibetan yoga program for cancer patients and found that it is feasible to conduct the intervention, and there is some initial indication that the intervention improves adjustment. We hypothesize that the yoga program we designed will be particularly useful for women with breast cancer who are undergoing adjuvant treatment for their disease as the focus is on controlled breathing, visualization, and mindfulness techniques, as well as some low impact gentle postures. The proposed study will assess the physical and psychological benefits of a Tibetan yoga program for women with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with breast cancer who are scheduled to receive chemotherapy will be randomly assigned to either a Tibetan yoga group or an Educational Support group. This research will also evaluate the extent to which psychosocial factors mediate and/or moderate the intervention program and predict patients' recovery and adjustment to treatment. The effects of the intervention should be evident throughout recovery and across physical and psychological indices.