relaxing acupressure improves fatigue levels in survivors of breast cancer -
acupressure reduced persistent fatigue in women who had been treated for breast cancer a new study.
fatigue is one of the most common long-term effects of breast cancer treatment. About a third of women suffer from moderate to severe fatigue until 10 years after the end of treatment.
The study, published in JAMA Oncology, found acupressure reduces fatigue by 27 percent to 34 percent over six weeks. Two-thirds of women who do relaxing acupressure, some type of healing method, reached normal levels of fatigue.
"Fatigue is a symptom underestimated a large number of chronic diseases, especially cancer. It has a significant impact on quality of life. Acupressure is easy to learn and patients can do themselves, "says study author Suzanna Zick, ND, MPH, research associate professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan.
acupressure is derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine. It involves applying . pressure with the fingers, thumbs or device at specific points on the body the researchers tested two types of acupressure: relaxing acupressure, which is traditionally used to treat insomnia, and stimulating acupressure, which is used to increase energy. the two techniques differ in which points on the body are stimulated.
researcher recruited 424 breast cancer survivors from the register of Michigan tumors. participants were randomized to relaxing acupressure, stimulating acupressure or usual care, which includes typical sleep management techniques. Women have learned to find and stimulate acupressure points so that they can perform at home once a day for six weeks.
At the end of the trial, the two acupressure treatments resulted in significant, sustained improvements tiredness. But only relaxing acupressure measures also improved sleep quality, such as disturbed sleep, and overall quality of life.
Previous studies suggest acupuncture may help curb fatigue. But acupuncture is often not covered by insurance, the more it requires that people go to a practitioner once or twice a week for at least six weeks.
acupressure, on the other hand, proved in this study to be easy to learn and can be done at home.
Study participants were 15 minutes of training, and have been able to pinpoint the correct acupressure points and applying the right amount of pressure. Some women have reported minor bruising to acupressure sites. About 12 percent of participants discontinued the study because they felt it was too time intensive.
"Given the short training to learn acupressure, this intervention could be a low cost option for the treatment of fatigue," said Zick.
Researchers are developing a mobile application to teach acupressure. They will also investigate why acupressure impacts fatigue and if it is also effective for patients in active treatment and cancers other than breast.
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