Past statistical studies of yoga have found that only 28% of yoga practitioners are male, but a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine reached some conclusions that may entice more men to get down with some downward dogs.
Between May 2013 and June 2014, 45 prostate cancer patients participated in twice-weekly, 75-minute-long yoga classes taught by trained Eischens yoga instructors. The effect of yoga was then measured by the participant’s answers to a series of questions designed to assess their overall quality-of-life, fatigue caused by cancer, urinary incontinence, and sexual health including erectile dysfunction. The first-of-its-kind study, researchers at UPenn found that measurements of these common cancer treatment side effects were stable and less severe throughout radiation therapy among men who participated in an intensive yoga program. Neha Vapiwala, MD, associate professor in Radiation Oncology at UPenn’s Abramson Cancer Center, and lead author of the study, offered her conclusions from the study.
“Data have consistently shown declines in these important measures among prostate cancer patients undergoing cancer therapy without any structured fitness interventions, so the stable scores seen with our yoga program are really good news.”
From: Details