https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27720794

Breast cancer survival rates are thankfully increasing; when breast cancer is detected early, and is in the localised stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is now 100%. More research is emerging into post treatment care for breast cancer, with the linked study below coming out earlier this month. It looks at the benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction in breast cancer patients after their treatment is finished. It is an important and hope-inspiring read.

322 people, in the post-treatment phase of a breast cancer diagnosis, were randomly assigned to either a six-week mindfulness-based stress reduction MBSR program specifically tailored for breast cancer patients or usual care. Psychological (depression, anxiety, stress and fear of recurrence), physical (fatigue, pain, sleep and drowsiness), and cognitive symptoms and quality of life were assessed at baseline, six and 12 weeks.

From baseline to six weeks there was evidence of MBSR effectiveness in both the psychological (anxiety, depression, perceived stress and quality of life, emotional well-being) and fatigue (fatigue, sleep, and drowsiness) measures. Results between six and 12 weeks showed sustained effects, with the researchers concluding that MBSR (breast-cancer specific (BC)) works to improve symptom clusters, particularly for psychological and fatigue symptom clusters, with the greatest improvement occurring during the six-week program with sustained effects for several weeks after MBSR(BC) training. How we love to share such positive findings with you! :) !