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Dr Sunil Saini believes Yoga supports not just emotional health and better quality of life for cancer patients but also leads to better survival chances
Dr Sunil Saini believes a person practising Yoga is more disciplined and more conscious about health. (Pixabay)
Surgical Oncologist Dr Sunil Saini, Director, Cancer Research Institute HIMS, SRHU Dehradun*, is a big champion of Yoga in cancer treatment. “There is a need for comprehensive care; just surgery and chemo alone do not work,” he says.
Yoga supports not just emotional health and a better quality of life for cancer patients but also leads to better survival chances, according to him. This is because a person practising Yoga is more disciplined and more conscious about health. This means that compliance to the treatment is better and, therefore, the final outcome of the illness is better. These translate into lower recurrence risks and better survival.
Speaking recently at an international conference on ‘Yoga in Cancer Care’ at Kaivalyadhama Yoga Research Centre, Lonavla, Dr Saini talked about the immense role Yoga can play in cancer. “As a doctor, I would like to say that Yoga is relevant and useful as an adjunct therapy, though not as a curative therapy; at least, not yet. We find a lot of role of Yoga through the journey of cancer. The asanas, the physical aspects, and disciplining the mind are all necessary, and they work in tune with each other.”
Here are some snippets from his talk:
YOGA ESSENTIAL AT EVERY STAGE
The initial shock: We found around 40 per cent patients in our OPD were distressed and depressed to a great extent. The first blow to the patient comes when they get a cancer diagnosis. Emotional management is needed. It is observed that those who were already practising Yoga are able to cope much better. We focus on management of stress and start gentle asanas to work through the mind-body complex to help them cope better.
Treatment distress: Cancer is treated through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, systemic therapies. Each of these has its toxicities, and they create disabilities and havoc within our body. There are also emotional and psychological side effects, social implications, and financial burden. Yet, we have no option but to take these therapies and at the right time. .
So, what do we do about this? There is need for comprehensive care; just chemo and surgery do not work. We have to organise supporting care around the treatment. We can have modern medicines for the side effects, organise better social care, better family care, including rehab, physiotherapy and Yoga. In a study we conducted on 150 breast cancer patients, we introduced gentle yoga practices and found that by the end of the second and third chemo cycles, patients receiving Yoga therapy were able to cope better and had fewer side effects. Yoga works very well for fatigue, weight gain, anxiety, and sleeplessness.
Before and after surgery: This is the time to integrate Yoga as it prepares the individual for surgery. A patient who is at peace will recover better. During recuperation, within the ward, Yoga breathing practices, relaxation techniques, and other stress-management techniques help manage pain and aid recovery.
Life after getting cured: Nowadays, people get effective treatment and survive for decades. They need to get back and integrate into society. Yoga is a good adjunct that supports people to become a productive part of society again.
End-of-life care: At this point, patients deal with different distressing symptoms like pain, breathing problems, vomiting. This is also the time to understand the philosophy of life and leave the world happily. We involve families also, so they don’t cling to them. Yoga helps both in relief and reconciliation.
In our 1,300-bedded hospital, the cancer unit is a 250-bedded hospital and we have Yoga interns who come every day and teach stress management at the bedside. We educate all nurses to integrate Yoga in their practices. They move through the radiation therapy area, day-care, post-operative wards, recruiting patients and family members and giving them Yoga and stress-management therapy.
YOGA NOT JUST FOR PATIENTS
In our hospital, we have started Yoga classes for caregivers. They are often depressed and overworked as those who are helping cancer patients are themselves in need of care. So, there is a need to help the whole family, not just the cancer patients. Stress management and Yoga therapy help alleviate anxiety, depression, emotional distress, and improve mental resilience.
Even Doctors need Yoga!
When we say ‘Yoga’, it is not just for patients or for their relatives. Yoga is for everybody involved. If a doctor is not at peace with himself, he cannot help his patients. If a healthcare provider is angry and carrying the burden of his home to his workplace, he will not be able to help patients. . So, first and foremost, before we deal with patients, Doctors and nursing staff have to practice Yoga to perform well and enable patients to heal.
DOCTORS’ RESISTANCE TO YOGA
Modern therapies are validated through science and are necessary. However, any doctor who has resentment towards Yoga or other healing systems, his knowledge is limited and he is ignorant about other possibilities. Go to a doctor who helps you to accept other `pathies’ also. I am a surgeon and am receptive to Yoga because I am a facilitator of patient wellbeing.
The way forward is promoting ‘integrative oncology’. There is a need for partnership between traditional and modern healthcare practitioners. There is a shortage of doctors and the only way to take care of such a huge population is to create more nurses, more yoga therapists and allied healthcare workers and empower them. Of course, we need to have standardised protocols for Yoga and more randomised control trials. We also need to have special yoga therapists in oncology. But the role of Yoga per se cannot be denied.
*Swami Rama Himalayan Medical College and Hospital, Uttarakhand
The author is a journalist, cancer survivor and certified yoga teacher. She can be reached at [email protected].