Breast cancer patients ask me about specific dietary supplements to use during their journey through cancer quite a bit. One of the complaints I hear sometimes is that patients’ physicians are exceedingly vague in rendering nutrition advice, many discourage the use of dietary supplements during chemotherapy, and then there are those who advocate the use of nutritional supplements during chemotherapy. So what is a person to do? Look at the evidence, right? [Read more…]
Children with Cancer and Their Parents: Benefits of Yoga
Yoga and cancer sometimes end up in discussions with my wife Karri, who is a nurse as well as a certified yoga instructor. So after another one of these conversations I decided to hit the databases to learn about the state of research of yoga in pediatric oncology.
While the results are pretty slim, the encouraging situation is that there is yoga research emerging that attempts to scrutinize yoga in children with cancer. The article I am elaborating on today by Thygeson, Hooke, Clapsaddle, Robbins, & Moquist (2010) examine the consequences of peaceful play yoga in children with cancer and their parents.
Objectives of Children with Cancer Research:
Even though yoga has been shown to be helpful for adults and healthy children, there is remarkably little research on yoga in children with cancer. Thygeson et al. (2010) set out to explore effects of yoga in children who are also hematology/oncology patients. More pointedly, Thygeson et al. (2010) set out to examine two things in their study:
- Look at the practicability of a single yoga session for children and teenagers hospitalized with cancer or other blood disorders and/or their parents;
- Investigate whether or not a single yoga session could reduce anxiety in children with cancer and their parents.
Participants:
Thygeson et al’s. (2010) study design called for 3 groups. One group of patients ages 7-12 years old, one group 13-18 years old and one parent group. Children were all diagnosed with cancer or a blood disorder.
Parents met the inclusion criteria if they had a child of any age hospitalized on an inpatient unit with a diagnosis of cancer or blood disorder. Parents also were able to participate with or without their child.
Intervention:
- Thygeson et al. (2010) chose mixed-methods (please see my note about mixed methods research at the end of this entry), within subject, repeated measures design.
- The researchers collected pre- and post-study measures immediately before or after the 45-minute yoga session.
- Anxiety and sense of well-being were assessed with the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIC).
- An open-ended survey to assess qualitative data was administered shortly after the yoga session.
Study Appraisal:
Results:
Ten children, 5 teenagers and 32 parents completed yoga session. 64% of children were male, 60% of teenagers were male, 70% of participating parents were female, and 42% of parents participated in the research and yoga session with their child. Nineteen parents participated with a child less than 6 years old.
Change in Anxiety:
- The children (n = 11) reported no change in their anxiety or sense of well-being (p = .21) Teenagers (n = 5), on the other hand, experienced a significant decrease in anxiety and improved sense of well-being (p = .04).
- Parents experienced a significant decrease in anxiety as well as an increased awareness of well-being (p < .01).
Responses to the Open-Ended Questions
The Children: Four themes emerged from the children’s group. Mainly, yoga was fun, relaxing, yoga helped children feel calm, and yoga helped children feel good. Thygeson et al. (2010) quote one child who said: “Very fun and really relaxing and like it calms you down and stuff” (p. 280).
The Teenagers: In addition to the four themes emerging in the children’s group, the teenage group identified an additional theme: Yoga as self-care. One teenager described yoga as a form of self-care that it yoga helped “managing stress more effectively” (Thygeson et al., 2010, p. 280).
The Parents: The parents were able to provide additional in-depth information that allowed for 7 themes to emerge from this group. The following themes were identified by researchers; relaxation, exercise and movement, stress relief, bonding with their child, calm and centered, and easy and better than expected, and self-care. A few quotes from parents who found yoga helpful are:
- “The body becomes stronger and more balanced,” and the experience was “strengthening emotionally and physically” as well as “all the anxieties you feel in the hospital melt away” (Thygeson et al., 2010, p. 281).
- “Yoga helped me focus on the good and center my energy on the positive,”
- “One hour to concentrate on your well-being will benefit your child in so many ways,“
- “An excellent time spent with my child.” (Thygeson et al., 2010, p. 281)
Is it any wonder that six parents recommend yoga to other parents?
Limitations of this Study for Children with Cancer and their Parents:
- According to the Thygeson et al. (2010) study the child sample might not be representative of a typical inpatient hematology/oncology unit.
- It is not known how long the participants were able to sustain the benefits of yoga.
- Study design did not involve randomization of participants.
- Even though, participants acted as their own controls, future research might include an active “attention” control, to minimize the likelihood that the extra attention yoga participants received contributes to the positive results.
- While it is difficult to blind participants and yoga instructors, future research in this field might contain a design that blinds data collectors and data assessors.
Conclusions and Implications of Key Findings for Children with Cancer and Their Parents:
Thygeson et al. (2010) research is tremendously encouraging. As mentioned by the authors, at the time of their research there were no other studies available that looked at yoga in children with cancer and blood disorders. They laid crucial groundwork with this study. Further investigation is warranted to investigate the effects of yoga on children with cancer and their parents.
If you are considering yoga for yourself and your child with cancer you might expect the following from Hatha yoga:
- In smaller children with cancer, the effects of yoga on anxiety and well-being are not clearly understood. If your child is up for the physical movement, yoga might contribute to effective bonding time.
- In teenagers with cancer and parents of children with cancer, Hatha yoga might contribute to a general sense of well-being and reduced anxiety. While yoga will certainly not solve all your problems, as a parent of a child with cancer you might, however, experience the sensation of, as one parent put it: “it is like going on a mini vacation from everything else going on” (Thygeson et al., 2010, p.281).
Funding Disclosures:
The study was performed at the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. The authors declare no conflicts of interest and no financial support for the research was received.
Werner’s Note: A quick word about mixed methods research. Researchers are always looking to develop new methodologies that improve the quality and the scientific power of information we collect in the health sciences. The most notable feature here is the combination of quantitative data (numbers) with qualitative data (the participants point of view). Creswell, Klassen, Plano Clark, & Clegg Smith (2011) provide the following definition for mixed methods research (p. 4):
- Focusing on research questions that call for real-life contextual understandings, multi-level perspectives, and cultural influences;
- Employing rigorous quantitative research assessing magnitude and frequency of constructs and rigorous qualitative research exploring the meaning and understanding of constructs;
- Utilizing multiple methods (e.g., intervention trials and in-depth interviews); Intentionally integrating or combining these methods to draw on the strengths of each; and Framing the investigation within philosophical and theoretical positions.
- In mixed methods research, the qualitative data provides a clarification of the quantitative outcomes.
Thus, rather than just focusing on numbers, a mixed methods design allows for integration of a variety of theoretical perspectives, adding context and meaning of human lives and to the human experience (Creswell et al., 2011).
References:
Creswell, J. W., Klassen, A. C., Plano Clark, V. L., & Clegg Smith, K. (2011). Best practices for mixed methods research in the health sciences (Best Practices) (p. 37). National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from http://obssr.od.nih.gov/mixed_methods_research
Thygeson, M. V., Hooke, M. C., Clapsaddle, J., Robbins, A., & Moquist, K. (2010). Peaceful Play Yoga: Serenity and Balance for Children With Cancer and Their Parents. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 27(5), 276–284. doi:10.1177/1043454210363478
Fish Oil Supplements May Help Prevent Skin Cancer in Women
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. Annually more than 2 million people are treated for basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer. Basal cell skin cancer is the most common form of skin cancer (National Cancer Institute, 2011).
You might find the following information, just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition practical. The article details provided below might give you more information when considering all options for the prevention or treatment of skin cancer. [Read more…]
Mind-Body Medicine in Sexual And Reproductive Health & Sexual Wellbeing
My colleague Alex Baker and I just had an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy. The article introduces a hypothetical group model of Sexual Wellness Enhancement and Enrichment Training (SWEET) that focuses on a number of research-based healing modalities, including conscious breathing, mindfulness meditation, mindful eating, movement exercises, autogenics and biofeedback, as a possible option for improving sexual wellness through adequate and informed self-care.
In the article, we address not only the potential benefits of a mind-body skills group that is modified to address sexual and reproductive health and sexual wellbeing from a behavioral perspective, but we also elaborate on the potential impact of the intervention on stress and reproductive hormones.
Much credit goes to Alex Baker because she laid the groundwork for this article with her Master’s project on sexual and reproductive health and sexual wellbeing. We just put our heads together to see how we could demonstrate the impact of the mind-body approaches of the group on a person’s stress and reproductive hormones. In our conclusion, we pen that the model seems to be solidly grounded in the scientific literature to address sexual and reproductive health and sexual wellbeing.
Alex is toiling on the mind-body facilitator’s handbook. Once Alex completes this piece, addressing sexual health with SWEET in the real world will be our next step. Follow-up studies to quantify the influences of SWEET on sexual and reproductive health are planned.
The elegance about SWEET is that it is not a magic bullet approach (presupposing one particular modality will be the key); alternately it offers participants a variety of modalities to pick and choose from so they may append their toolbox from which participants then can commit themselves to their most appropriate tool for self-care.
Whys is this important to cancer patients? Cancer affects many couples’ most intimate aspects of their lives. Maintaining/improving sexual wellbeing as well as sexual and reproductive health is one way to increase the quality of life for cancer patients.
You can subscribe below to stay tuned for regular updates on our progress with the next steps… Here is the citation.
Baker, A. C., & Absenger, W. (2013). Sexual Wellness Enhancement and Enrichment Training (SWEET): A hypothetical group model for addressing sexual health and wellbeing. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 1–15. doi:10.1080/14681994.2013.770142
Werner
Oh et al., 2010 – Medical Qigong, quality of life and inflammation in cancer patients
Mindful movement such as Qigong can help circulation and balance energy, improve health and prevent disease.
Practice Meditation Online for FREE with a Mind-Body Medicine Expert
Now you can practice meditation every Wednesday at 12:30 PM EST with Werner Online. Start a regular mindfulness meditation practice while Werner leads you through a 17-minute Mindfulness Meditation session. Mindfulness meditation practice focuses on the powerful ways in which you can participate in your own health and healing. By learning to quiet your mind and let go of discursive thinking, you can open the door to a healthier, happier life.
Thoughts, feelings, beliefs and attitudes can influence and affect every aspect of biological functioning, and how you care for your body can affect how you think and feel and what you believe.
Mind body medicine gives you many opportunities and can do many things to take control of your own health. You can use mind body medicine practices, some ancient and some recent to shape your own health and overall well-being.
For example, Tang et al. (2010) have shown that IBMT (integrative body–mind training, IBMT), increases anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity and improves self-regulation. Tang et al. (2010) go on to say that deficits in activation of the anterior cingulate cortex have been associated with many disorders. For further reading see Fernandez-Duque & Black, 2006; Hong et al., 2009; Posner, 2007; Posner, Rothbart, Sheese, & Tang, 2007 and Segal et al., 2010.
The ability to increase cingulate cortex connectivity through mindfulness meditation practice could provide a means for improving self-regulation and your own health. Greeson (2009) writes that greater mindfulness meditation practice can reduce stress, stress-related medical symptoms, increase positive emotions and increase quality of life. Greeson (2009) goes on to say “studies are beginning to show a relationship between (a) how much people practice meditation, (b) how much more mindful they become, and (c) the positive effects they experience in terms of mental and physical health” (p.10).
In this class, you will engage in mindfulness meditation practice, a mind body medicine modality . Werner will guide you through the mindfulness meditation practice giving you an experiential learning experience.
Through the mastery of mind body techniques, you might experience deeper relaxation, fewer physical symptoms of illness, less pain, less fatigue and more energy, as well as enhanced immune system functioning (Tang et al., 2010). In other words, mindfulness allows you to play an active role in your own health and wellness. You probably will be able to more successfully deal with pain, chronic illness, stress, and anxiety, as well. Over time, you may experience greater self-awareness and more positive perceptions about your life.
To learn how to take control of your own health and wellness through mindfulness meditation practice, register for Werner’s 17-Minute Midweek Meditation now! Its FREE and happening online in Werner’s Learn It Life Classroom.
This class is aimed at beginners and novices to meditation, as well as participants suffering from chronic health conditions and cancer.
See you Wednesday,
Werner
Writing a Paper or Report? Cite This Post As:
APA: Absenger, W. (2013, February 22). Practice Meditation Online for FREE with a Mind-Body Medicine Expert [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://amacf.org/2013/02/practice-meditation-online-for-free-with-a-mind-body-medicine-expert/
References:
Fernandez-Duque, D., & Black, S. E. (2006). Attentional networks in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropsychology, 20(2), 133–143. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.20.2.133
Greeson, J. M. (2009). Mindfulness Research Update: 2008. Complementary Health Practice Review, 14(1), 10–18. doi:10.1177/1533210108329862
Hong, L. E., Gu, H., Yang, Y., Ross, T. J., Salmeron, B. J., Buchholz, B., … Stein, E. A. (2009). Association of Nicotine Addiction and Nicotine’s Actions With Separate Cingulate Cortex Functional Circuits. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66(4), 431. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.2
Posner, M. I. (2007). Educating the human brain (1st ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Posner, M. I., Rothbart, M. K., Sheese, B. E., & Tang, Y. (2007). The anterior cingulate gyrus and the mechanism of self-regulation. Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience, 7(4), 391–395.
Segal, D., Haznedar, M. M., Hazlett, E. A., Entis, J. J., Newmark, R. E., Torosjan, Y., … Hof, P. R. (2010). Diffusion tensor anisotropy in the cingulate gyrus in schizophrenia. NeuroImage, 50(2), 357–365. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.071
Tang, Y.-Y., Lu, Q., Geng, X., Stein, E. A., Yang, Y., & Posner, M. I. (2010). Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(35), 15649–15652. doi:10.1073/pnas.1011043107
Clinical Hypnosis, Pancreatic Cancer and the Immune System: A Pilot Study
Announcing the initiation of an exploratory, randomized controlled interventional study to evaluate the effects of Clinical Hypnosis on the immune system of cancer patients suffering from pancreatic cancer (PaCa). This small, exploratory study will enroll up to 21 cancer patients suffering from pancreatic cancer in a 2-week (2 sessions, 1 per week) study starting January 28, 2013 and concluding on February 11, 2013.
Please visit Werner’s Project Page on RocketHub.com for a short video on how you can get involved in this project.
Specific Aim
The purpose of this research is to examine clinical hypnosis, a mind-body medicine modality, and its impact on the immune system via quantification of cytokine Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) as it pertains to cancer patients afflicted with pancreatic cancer. This project is being conducted by Werner Absenger, M.Sc. who is a graduate student of Saybrook University, San Francisco, California, as part of MBM 5551 Doctoral Research I, which serves as a pilot study for dissertation research.
Because of a lack of tests for early cancer screening of the general population, roughly half of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed at a late stage. Unfortunately, the median survival rate for advanced pancreatic cancer patients is six months, in comparison to two years for pancreatic cancer patients who were able to undergo surgery (National Cancer Institute, 2010). Clinical hypnosis and guided imagery have been shown to affect a person’s immune function. This project will examine clinical hypnosis(CH) and its impact on the immune system as it pertains to a person afflicted with pancreatic cancer.
Aim: Through an exploratory, randomized controlled study the effects of clinical hypnosis on the immune system of patients suffering from pancreatic cancer will be investigated.
Challenge: To quantify immunological response via the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β in research participants diagnosed with pancreatic cancer undergoing clinical hypnosis intervention.
Approach: Study participants will be divided into three groups, (1) TAU (Treatment As Usual), (2) TAU plus CH administered face-to-face or (3) TAU plus CH administered
online.
Impact: Evaluation of clinical hypnosis in patients suffering from pancreatic cancer will provide preliminary data, whether or not clinical hypnosis might serve as an adjunct therapy impacting the immune system of patients suffering from pancreatic cancer. This will provide initial, early stage evidence for clinical hypnosis as an integrative cancer treatment.
According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM, 2012), as many cancer patients seem to seek refuge in complementary and alternative modalities, evidence-based integrative therapies are sorely needed for adjunct cancer therapies after diagnosis with metastatic cancer.
The study titled “Does Clinical Hypnosis, When Offered in Addition to TAU, Modulate the Expression of IL-1β Compared to TAU in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer?” will add to existing scientific body of Mind-Body Medicine while participants may gain a greater personal awareness, knowledge, and understanding of clinical hypnosis and pancreatic cancer.
An orientation for interested participants will take place:
When: Saturday, January 26, 2013
Time: 11am EDT (will last approximately 1.5 hours)
Where: Spring Lake District Library, 123 E. Exchange Street, Spring Lake, MI, 494546 Please contact Werner to reserve your space.
Oversight
The study proposal underwent review at the Saybrook University Institutional Review Board, Saybrook University, 747 Front St., 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111-1920.
Please visit Werner’s Project Page on RocketHub.com for a short video on how you can get involved in this project.
Werner Absenger, M.Sc.
Ph.D. Student at Saybrook University’s School of Mind-Body Medicine, Research Track
The Continuum Center for Health and Healing is Expanding!
Located
in the heart of New York City, the Continuum Center for Health and Healing
(CCHH) offers a wide range of integrative treatment approaches. Physicians and
practitioners of diverse healing traditions provide primary and specialty care
to address physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Guided Imagery Improve Wellbeing for Breast and Prostate Cancer Patients
As many of you know, I am going to invest a considerable amount of time and energy researching mind-body medicine modalities in the oncological setting. Partially because mind-body modalities modalities, when combined with standard treatment, show great promise to increase quality of life, reduce anxiety and pain intensity.
For a thorough description of my research interests please visit my Guided Imagery page at my website www.WernerAbsenger.com and my page about Mind-Body Skills Groups .
Right now I just wanted to bring awareness on research that is being done at Cyprus University. The following abstract by Andreas, C. (2011). The effect of progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery in improving psychological well-being and quality-of-life for breast and prostate cancer patients: Initial report just appeared in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine.
Introduction: This study aimed to determine whether relaxation and guided imagery techniques have the potential to cut anxiety, depression, pain intensity and improve quality-of-life for prostate and breast cancer patients.
The Society of Psychological Hypnosis (APA Division 30) is calling for presentation proposals for the 2013 Annual Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii
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