Mindfulness and its influence on quality of life and immune response in women with breast cancer

Kosz Katarzyna, Zielińska Martyna, Zarankiewicz Natalia, Kuchnicka Aleksandra, Aleksandrowicz Jakub, Książek Katarzyna, Mojsym‑Korybska Sylwia. Mindfulness and its influence on quality of life and immune response in women with breast cancer. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2019;9(8):493-497. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3380716 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/7342 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2019; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 05.08.2019. Revised: 15.08.2019. Accepted: 29.08.2019. Mindfulness and its influence on quality of life and immune response in women with breast cancer Katarzyna Kosz1, Martyna Zielińska1, Natalia Zarankiewicz1, Aleksandra Kuchnicka1, Jakub Aleksandrowicz1, Katarzyna Książek2, Sylwia Mojsym-Korybska3 Students’ Scientific Association of Chair and Department of Public Health, Medical University of Lublin Chair and Department of Developmental Dentistry, Medical University of Lublin Chair and Department of Public Health, Medical University of Lublin Abstract Mindfulness therapy is a psychological process, which main purpose is to concentrate attention on internal and external stimuli in the present moment. Practising mindfulness is correlated with well-being, greater energy and enthusiasm as well as the ability to cope with stressful situations. Breast cancer accounts for 22% of all malignant tumors in women. It is characterized by the highest mortality rate among all malignancies in this group. Diagnosis, applied treatment and changes in the women’s lifestyle may have a negative impact on their psyche. Symptoms such as depression, anxiety and fatigue often appear in patients diagnosed with breast cancer. These can lead to a decreased well-being and lower quality of life. Studies show that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) therapy has a positive impact on the quality of life of patients suffering from breast cancer. What is more, those patients may have a worse immune response and less natural killers cells activity (NKCA) than people who doesn not have a cancer disease. MBSR can re-establish NKCA and improve immune response. Patients who have noticed an improvement in their well-being during and after MBSR therapy showed higher NKCA. There is no doubt that MBSR therapy reduces the level of fatigue, depression and anxiety. Moreover, patients who undergo MBSR therapy are less afraid of a relapse and have less reactivity to the emotional stress. Keywords: Breast cancer, Mindfulness, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, quality of life, natural killers cell activit