Earlier this month I wrote about a Stanford study exploring whether acupuncture can help benefit patients with cancer-related sleep problems. Now Oxana Palesh, PhD, MPH, a co-investigator on that study, is testing two other methods - a behavioral treatment and the drug armodafinil - for reducing insomnia and fatigue in breast cancer patients.
The reasons this National Cancer Institute-funded work is important? As Palesh told me, 80 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy experience sleep difficulties, but there are no standard treatments for such problems in cancer patients. And:
There is an emerging awareness that sleeping well and managing fatigue during cancer is important for quality of life and might affect how you respond to treatment.
Previously: Can acupuncture help cancer patients sleep better?
