Yoga May Help Cancer Patients After Treatment
Originally posted by By PAMELA MAZZEO, M.D.ABC News Medical Unit
In the chemotherapy infusion room at the Staten Island University Hospital sit several cancer patients hooked up to IVs. But they aren't leafing through magazines or staring at a talk show and worrying about their health.
Instead, their right legs are lifted up in the air, and they're circling their ankles clockwise while breathing deeply under the instruction of their yoga teacher.
"Most people don't look forward to chemotherapy," said Kerry Gillespie, director of the hospital's Center for Complementary Medicine. But he said the patients in this program look forward to the yoga class they take during their chemotherapy infusions every Thursday. Among other benefits, Gillespie said, "It gets their mind off the chemo."