Yoga for erectile dysfunction: study shows twice-weekly yoga leads to improvements

Yoga for erectile dysfunction: a 2017 study shows that men who attended a yoga class twice a week during prostate cancer radiation treatment reported better sexual function than those who didn’t. This is according to a clinical trial led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

It is the first to look at the effect of yoga on the side-effects caused by prostate cancer treatment. The results were in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics.

Yoga for erectile dysfunction after prostate cancer treatment

All of the patients in the trial underwent 6–9 weeks of external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Thee researchers randomized the patients into two groups. One group participated in a yoga class twice a week, and the other arm served as a control group.

Patients who already practiced yoga on their own were not eligible for the study. And neither were patients with a history of prior radiation therapy or those with metastatic disease.

Eischens Yoga, Savasana, and erectile dysfunction

Each session lasted 75 minutes, beginning with five minutes of breathing and centering techniques. It ended with five minutes of Savasana, a common yoga position. Typical sessions incorporated sitting, standing, and reclining positions. The researchers modified these exercises to adapt to each patient’s needs and restrictions.

In addition to measuring fatigue, researchers also evaluated both groups in terms of their sexual health. They specifically looked into the effects of yoga for erectile dysfunction. They found that 85% of radiation patients reported sexual dysfunction (including but not limited to erectile dysfunction). This is often due to the concurrent use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

The study utilized the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaire, in which scores range from 0–25. Scores greater than 21 are considered normal and scores below 12 indicate moderate to severe ED. Both groups started out with scores of around 11. But while the yoga group’s score ended up largely unchanged from baseline, the non-yoga group saw a decline over the course of treatment.

Yoga and pelvic muscles

“Yoga is known to strengthen pelvic floor muscles, which is one of several postulated theories that may explain why this group did not demonstrate declining scores, as seen in the control group,” co-author Neha Vapiwala said.

“That may also explain the yoga patients’ improved urinary function scores, another finding of this trial,” he said.

Vapiwala pointed out that the findings on improved or stable urinary function are consistent with other research on the effects of physical therapy on pelvic floor muscles.

The trial also found that while the emotional well-being of both groups increased as patients progressed through treatment, the evaluation scores in the yoga group rose more rapidly than in the control group. An evaluation of physical well-being showed a similar pattern.

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Study: “ Effect of Eischens Yoga During Radiation Therapy on Prostate Cancer Patient Symptoms and Quality of Life: A Randomized Phase II Trial”
Authors: Avital Mazar Ben-Josef, Jerry Chen, Paul Wileyto et al
Published in: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics
Publication date: March 30, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.03.043
Photo: by Marcus Aurelius from Pexels

Originally published at https://www.psychnewsdaily.com on April 29, 2021.