While chronic insomnia is one of the most important symptoms among cancer survivors and its prevalence is increasing in the general population, the practice of Tai Chi, non-drug and relatively accessible, should be considered in the arsenal of tools possible against sleep disorders.
Specifically, in breast cancer survivors, while 30% suffer from insomnia, twice the prevalence observed in the general populationmind-body interventions such as Tai Chi, are also an avenue that should not be overlooked.
The study compares the 2 therapies, CBT and Tai Chi with 90 breast cancer survivors. The researchers also analyzed blood samples taken regularly over a period of 15 months to monitor biomarkers of inflammation. The analysis finds that:
- Tai Chi specifically allows for a more significant and sustained reduction in inflammation in these participants, more effectively than CBT; these observations are based on plasma interleukin-6 levels, inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory transcriptional profiles;
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Tai Chi helps restore the sleep-wake cycle and its alignment with circadian rhythms,
- recovery which may also have contributed to these anti-inflammatory benefits;
- however, participants in the CBT group had better antiviral gene transcripts, suggesting that CBT improved the body’s defenses against infections.
- Blood samples from cognitive behavioral therapy showed a greater increase in antiviral gene transcripts.
“Tai Chi preferentially reduces inflammation compared to cognitive behavioral therapy, while cognitive behavioral therapy preferentially improves antiviral viral immunity or resistance to infectious diseases”concluded the lead author, Michael R. Irwin, director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA Health.
Further research will therefore need to examine the combined benefits of Tai Chi and cognitive behavioral therapyparticularly in this group of patients who present a particularly high risk of inflammatory disorders and insomnia.
Ongoing research is already examining trajectories of inflammatory activation and accelerated aging in breast cancer survivors, with the objective of identifying behavioral and biological targets for the prevention of insomnia, depression, and other morbidities more common in this group of patients.
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