Yoga can reduce the risk of cancer

Doctors have been told to prescribe yoga classes to survivors of the disease to reduce their chances of suffering a relapse.

Attendees at a global cancer conference were told that a US study found that taking two yoga classes per week significantly cut inflammation in patients who had recovered from cancer.

The trials also linked daily 30-minute walks and exercise classes to a lower risk of cancer returning and dying from the disease.

Karen Mustian, lead researcher at the University of Rochester in New York, said: "The basic take-home story is that inflammatory chemicals were lowered by the yoga.

"This shows that if you choose to do yoga, you are going to lower inflammation much more than just educational, peer-support classes.

"Inflammation underlies virtually everything that we don't want to see in cancer. So it underlines the cancer itself. It underlies long-term toxicities, like insomnia, fatigue, cardiotoxicity ... . So the fact that we're able to do that (lower inflammation) with this is really a pretty big deal."

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