Acupressure Found to Help Reduce
Fatigue in Patients with Breast Cancer
A
ccording to findings in a study published in
JAMA Oncology, acupressure may help
reduce persistent fatigue in patients treated
for breast cancer. Fatigue is one of the most
common long-term effects of breast cancer
treatment.
On average, a third of patients treated for breast cancer
report experiencing moderate to severe fatigue up to 10 years
after their treatment ends.
A total of 424 breast cancer survivors participated in the
study. The findings showed that acupressure reduces fatigue by
27 to 34 percent over six weeks of acupressure. According to
Suzanna Zick, N.D., MPH, associate research professor of
family medicine at the University of Michigan and author of the
study, “fatigue is an underappreciated symptom in chronic
diseases but has significant impact on quality of life.”
For the study, participants were taught how to find and
stimulate pressure points so they could perform it at home
once per day for six weeks. They were tested on two types of
acupressure: relaxing (traditionally used to treat insomnia) and
stimulating (used to increase energy).
“Given the brief training required to learn acupressure, this
intervention could be a low-cost option for treating fatigue,”
Zick says.
How are you educating guests on the power of the healing
touch? Do you offer acupressure workshops and classes,
especially to cancer patients and survivors who may need help
in treating chronic fatigue as a result of their treatment? And
how are you encouraging them to make massage a weekly part
of their recovery treatment? n
September 2016
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