{"id":69746,"date":"2017-06-04T15:11:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T09:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org\/?p=69746"},"modified":"2017-06-04T15:11:15","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T09:41:15","slug":"meditation-reduces-cancer-survivors-fear-disease-coming-back-study-finds-gaurdian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=69746","title":{"rendered":"Meditation reduces cancer survivors&#8217; fear of disease coming back, study finds | The Gaurdian"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"moz-reader-content\" class=\"line-height4\">\n<div id=\"readability-page-1\" class=\"page\">\n<div class=\"content__article-body from-content-api js-article__body\" data-test-id=\"article-review-body\">\n<p>Practicing meditation and other relaxation techniques can reduce cancer survivors\u2019 fear that they will face a recurrence of the disease, a new study has shown.<\/p>\n<p>The findings, presented on the first day of the world\u2019s largest annual showcase for the latest cancer research, are part of a new push by specialists to improve the psychological wellbeing of patients.<\/p>\n<p>Patients\u2019 reduction in fear was \u201clarge enough to improve survivors\u2019 psychological and emotional wellbeing\u201d, said Dr Jane Beith, a medical oncologist at the University of Sydney in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>The study was conducted primarily with young survivors of breast cancer, and used \u201cmuscle relaxation, meditative relaxation, and visualization\u201d to try to reduce fear of cancer recurrence.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--not-upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-2 | 1\"><\/aside>\n<p>Fear of recurrence is significant, especially in young survivors of breast cancer. The study\u2019s authors said 70% of this group had a fear of recurrence so distressing that it \u201cnegatively affects medical follow-up behavior, mood, relationships, work, goal-setting, and quality of life\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Fifty per cent of all cancer survivors characterized their fear of recurrence this strongly.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers randomly split 222 cancer survivors into two groups. In one group, a trained therapist delivered five sessions of 60- to 90-minute relaxation sessions. The second group received no psychological interventions.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers used a standard metric to measure fear of cancer recurrence (called an FCRI test), in which higher scores indicate more fear, and scores for patients in the relaxation group dropped significantly. The average FCRI score for the group that went on to receive relaxation treatment was 82.7 before it started, versus 85.7 for the group that received no treatment. After the sessions, scores of patients in the \u201cConquer Fear\u201d program reduced by 18.1 points on average, versus 7.6 points for the group that did not receive therapy.<\/p>\n<p>The gains also appeared to appreciate over time. Patients who had received therapy reported a drop of 27.2 points after six months, compared to 17.8 points on average for the group that did not receive therapy.<\/p>\n<p>Meditation is just one of several psychological treatments being presented to cancer specialists at the American Society of Clinical Oncology\u2019s (ASCO) annual conference, the world\u2019s largest such gathering. Increasingly, oncologists have looked to psychologists to treat depression, anxiety and fear borne out of a cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a way, we\u2019re rediscovering the wheel,\u201d said Gary Rodin, a psychiatrist, head of the department of supportive care at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, and the lead author of another study presented at ASCO. \u201cThe medical advances in cancer care became much more developed, medicine became more technologized, and I think until recently there was less attention to the psychological and social aspects of cancer \u2013 quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really was a movement from patients and families to have this aspect of cancer care be taken as seriously as the other aspects, chemotherapy and surgery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>At least three studies presented at ASCO highlight oncologists\u2019 move toward psychology in treatment, ranging from face-to-face psychotherapy to relaxation techniques to online programs.<\/p>\n<p>Modern psychologists first began work with cancer specialists by designing awareness campaigns about preventable cancers. For example, nearly one-quarter of worldwide cancer deaths are attributable to tobacco alone, according to the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n<p>Psychologists then began surveying and treating the emotional well-being of cancer patients, part of a steady rise in psychology research centered on cancer prevention and treatment in the 1990s. The studies presented at ASCO represent both psychologists\u2019 most recent work to improve the emotional lives of cancer patients and oncologists\u2019 increasingly mainstream adoption of such techniques.<\/p>\n<p>Another study presented at ASCO, authored by Rodin, found patients with advanced cancer could benefit from psychotherapy. The Canadian study of 305 cancer patients found up to six sessions of therapy delivered over the same period of months reduced depressive symptoms in 52% of patients, versus 33% who received usual cancer care.<\/p>\n<p>The sessions were delivered by nurses, oncologists, psychologists or social workers, and were meant to prepare patients for end-of-life care. Rodin said he has trained workers in 20 countries on the model, with hopes to continue studying the therapeutic model internationally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough cultures differ, religions vary by country \u2013 the closer one gets to being a patient with advanced disease, the more similar the problems,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019ve had a family member go through an advanced and progressive cancer, you know this.\u201d<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A third study looked at the possibility of using the internet to deliver some psychic relief to cancer patients. The study of 129 cancer patients looked at whether an eight week, online psychology program could relieve some cancer patients\u2019 most potent psychological symptoms: fatigue, anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of patients in the study were women with early stage breast cancer. Though anxiety and depression were not quelled by the online program, a scale used to measure fatigue, seen as a major quality of life marker for cancer patients, improved significantly.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--not-upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-2 | 2\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cDelivery of psychological support to patients at this early time in the course of their cancer care is hampered with lack of access, time, and resources on both the patient\u2019s and the provider\u2019s side,\u201d said the lead author of the study, Viviane Hess, a medical oncologist at the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland. \u201cWith this online intervention, we aim to close that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Authors of the study on fear of recurrence also acknowledged that therapy was time intensive. Authors who used relaxation techniques and therapy hoped \u201cother formats, such as delivery via internet, in a group, or by phone, may be possible\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>For Hess, the success of an online program pointed to a need to standardize and translate such programs for the next generation of patients at-risk of cancer: millennials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnline psychological support will be much more important in the years to come, as the digital generation reaches the age when they are at higher risk of cancer,\u201d Hess said. This, she said, was an intervention that could \u201cdeliver much-needed psychologist support in the comfort of the patients\u2019 living rooms or other favorite wifi spots\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Practicing meditation and other relaxation techniques can reduce cancer survivors\u2019 fear that they will face a recurrence of the disease, a new study has shown. The findings, presented on the first day of the world\u2019s largest annual showcase for the latest cancer research, are part of a new push by specialists to improve the psychological [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1135],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}