title: Effect of Iyengar yoga practice on fatigue and diurnal salivary cortisol concentration in breast cancer survivors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effect of regular Iyengar yoga practice on measures of self-perceived psychosocial function and diurnal salivary cortisol secretion in stage II-IV breast cancer survivors (n = 18).
  
  
  METHODS
  Women were randomly assigned to attend yoga practice for 90 min twice weekly for 8 weeks (n = 9) or to a wait-listed, noninterventional control group (n = 9). Traditional Iyengar yoga routines that progressively increased in difficulty as participants gained strength and flexibility were used. At baseline and after the 8-week study period, women completed self-report instruments to document various aspects of psychosocial and physical functioning, and collected salivary samples for cortisol analysis four times during the day for two consecutive days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The yoga group had lower morning and 5 p.m. salivary cortisol and improved emotional well-being and fatigue scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breast cancer survivors are at risk for chronic psychosocial distress that may alter activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, resulting in aberrant regulation of cortisol secretion and increased risk of immune dysfunction and cancer progression. Regular yoga practice may be a low-risk, cost-effective way to improve psychosocial functioning, fatigue, and regulation of cortisol secretion in breast cancer survivors. These findings require validation with a larger randomized study.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington 99210-1495, USA. banasik@wsu.edu
authors.forename: Jacquelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Banasik
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Mel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haberman
authors.forename: Sally E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bendel
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D018450:Disease Progression; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004644:Emotions; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005221:Fatigue / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; D008875:Middle Aged; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System; D011594:Psychometrics; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D057566:Self Report; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015013:Yoga
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone