Abstract
Introduction
Naturopathy, Yoga and Dietary interventions are known to improve the quality of life in cancer patients. We aim to evaluate the effect of naturopathy interventions along with adjuvant chemotherapy in patients who underwent surgery for Adenocarcinoma of the Colon.
Methods
A total of 116 adult patients were randomised in to one of the two groups; the experimental group received naturopathy, Yoga and Dietary interventions and the control group received psycho-social counselling in addition to standard chemotherapy. Haematological, biochemical and psychological evaluations were performed at set intervals during a total period of eighteen months starting from the first cycle of adjuvant chemotherapy.
Results
Results showed that the overall hemoglobin (p < 0.0001) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (p = 0.0038) levels were statistically significant in patients on the experimental arm. The rest of the laboratory parameters, viz. total leukocyte count, platelet counts, and serum creatinine levels, for overall data was not statistically significant in both the groups. Psychological attributes such as anxiety, depression, symptom severity, and Functional Living Index: Cancer (FLIC) were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.0001) in the experimental subjects as compared with those in the control. On the whole, men benefited more than women from the study interventions.
Conclusions
We conclude that Yoga and Naturopathy interventions in addition to chemotherapy show improvement in overall functional life index along with improvement in haemoglobin in patients with stages II and III Adenocarcinoma of Colon.






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Acknowledgments
The study was undertaken by Dr. K. Kalpana Raghunath, Principal Investigator, with the support of the grant In-aid sanctioned to “Addlife Naturopathy Department” part of Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute under EMR scheme of Ministry of AYUSH.
Funding
This work is supported by a grant from The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homeopathy (AYUSH).
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Raghunath, K., Sumathi, C., Rajappa, S.J. et al. Impact of naturopathy, yoga, and dietary interventions as adjuvant chemotherapy in the management of stage II and III adenocarcinoma of the colon. Int J Colorectal Dis 35, 2309–2322 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-020-03711-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-020-03711-x