Yoga Medical News Daily

Psychologists benefit personally and professionally from a yoga regimen

According to a doctoral study carried out at Alliant International University, San Diego, by Gabriela Hirsch and completed in 2009, 'a regular yoga regimen provided psychologists with personal and professional benefits. These benefits included: an improvement in their self-awareness, a constructive relationship to themselves, positive utilization of breath, and an enhancement of their "sense of connectedness" between body, mind, and spirit. Furthermore, psychologists asserted that their regular yoga regimen was helpful in regards to their being empathic, compassionate, and "present" with their clients.'  Abstract and link to information on purchasing the full-text of the 131 page dissertation:  http://gradworks.umi.com/33/43/3343588.html

Yoga for Treatment-resistant Post-traumatic stress disorder

This clinical trial currently seeking participants is located at the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts, and is seeking women 18 to 58 years of age who have chronic, treatment-unresponsive post-traumatic stress disorder.  'This study will explore how a popular body-mind technique, yoga, compares with a attentional control group condition, Women's Health Education (WHE), in the treatment of [heretofore treatment- unresponsive adults with] PTSD, and measure whether yoga can affect "the attitudes and beliefs" that "can reduce psychological stress and contribute to positive health outcomes."'  The assigned intervention will include 10 weeks of trauma-sensitive yoga classes.  Details at ClinicalTrials.gov:

Yoga for Pain Relief by Kelly McGonigal

If you suffer from chronic pain, the just-published Yoga for Pain Relief offers some rigorously researched mind-body options to help you understand your pain and befriend your body as well as your spirit.  Author Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., award-winning instructor at Stanford University, as well as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy and a frequent contributor to Yoga Journal and IDEA Fitness Journal, takes the reader gently through this toolkit of recommendations in a succinct and authoritative manner.  

According to Penny Cowan, executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association, "this book is very much in line with all that the American Chronic Pain Association teaches. I recommend that you relax, renew yourself, and enjoy your adventure through Yoga for Pain Relief."

In addition to the book, McGonigal provides additional information in her accompanying website Yoga for Pain Relief including separate sections listing resources for people with pain, resources for yoga teachers, and resources for health care professionals.

Get your 30 minutes of daily moderate intensity activity using Wii Fit plus and Wii Sports

Yes, the Wii is good for you. This study appearing in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise [9 December 2009] concluded that "Time spent playing one-third of the activities supplied by motion and gesture-controlled video games can count toward the daily amount of exercise required according to the guidelines provided by the ACSM and AHA, which focus on 30 minutes of moderate-intensity daily physical activity five days a week."

The study focused on the energy expended [EE] during Wii Fit plus and Wii Sports game activities. "Twelve adult men and women performed all the activities of Wii Sports (5 activities: golf, bowling, tennis, baseball, and boxing) and Wii Fit plus (63 activities classified as yoga, resistance, balance, and aerobic exercises). Each activity was continued for at least 8 min to obtain a steady-state EE. As EE was assessed in an open-circuit indirect metabolic chamber consisting of an airtight room (20000 L or 15000 L), subjects were freed of apparatus to collect expired gas while playing the games. MET (metabolic equivalent) value was calculated from resting EE and steady-state EE during activity.

RESULTS:: The mean MET values of all 68 activities were distributed over a wide range from 1.3 METs (Lotus Focus) to 5.6 METs (single-arm stand). The mean MET values in yoga, balance, resistance, and aerobic exercise of Wii Fit plus, and Wii Sports were 2.1, 2.0, 3.2, 3.4, and 3.0 METs, respectively. Forty-six (67%) activities were classified as light intensity (< square3 METS) and 22 (33%) activities were classified as moderate intensity (3.0 square- square6.0 METS). There were no vigorous-intensity activities (> square6.0 METs)."  Abstract: PubMed.

Yogic exercises and health--a psycho-neuro immunological approach

Published in the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology [2009 Jan-Mar;53(1):3-15]. "Relaxation potential of yogic exercises seems to play a vital role in establishing psycho-physical health in reversing the psycho-immunology of emotions under stress based on breath and body awareness. . . This study focuses on two major pathways of information processing involving cortical and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) interactions with a deep reach molecular action on cellular, neuro-humoral and immune system in reversing stress mediated diseases. Further, the proposed HIP-PNE model has ample of experimental potential for objective evaluation of yogic view of health and fitness." Abstract: PubMed. 

Complementary and alternative methods in cerebral palsy

This review of the medical literature on cerebral palsy by WL Oppenheim of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology [2009 Oct;51 Suppl 4:122-9], "discusses some of the CAM used in children that may be carried over into adulthood, as well as the pitfalls for patients and conventional physicians as they try to sort out what might be helpful and what might be harmful in this arena. Practitioners of both conventional and CAM therapies believe that exercise can be beneficial; accordingly, activities such as recreational sports, yoga, and hippotherapy may be continued from childhood into adulthood. General treatments for stress and anxiety, through such activities as yoga and meditation, though not directed at CP per se, may be more popular for adults than children. Research in this area should first identify what methods are being utilized and then subject these methods to well-designed outcome studies that take into account any associated risks." Abstract: PubMed. 

Wellness centers and baby boomer women

This thesis by Ghada Mohamad, for an M.A.Arch., State University of New York at Buffalo (2009), points out that " Rising expenditures on healthcare are a major concern in the healthcare system in the U.S. and Preventive medicine and healthy life styles are recognized as key factors in lowering the costs of healthcare. This is of a special interest now as the older baby boomers are entering their sixties and will soon put greater pressure on the healthcare system from both economic and logistical perspective. In addition, this population group is expected to retire later than their predecessors. Their desire for independence and active living can be addressed through the emergence of an integrated system of preventive medicine and medical care. The wellness center, as part of the local health system, is a key component of such a strategy. Finally, special design features that respond to the changing physical and perceptual abilities of an aging population need to be addressed in the planning and design of wellness centers, in order to insure that the elders will be able to take advantage of their resources. . . . Abstract at PQDT Open, with link to download open access thesis in PDF.

Physical activity in the prevention of osteoporosis – what's needed are high impact exercise programs

This update review article published in Maturitas [2009 May 20;63(1):34-8] points out that in "Europe and North America about 6% of men and 21% of women aged 50-84 years are classified to have osteoporosis. Although it is well accepted that exercise is essential for the management of osteoporosis, the exact role of physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures is still controversial. . . . Two prospective cohort studies indicate the clinical relevance of this association by showing an inverse relationship between physical activity and the risk of hip fracture. There is convincing evidence that physical activity effectively slows bone loss in postmenopausal women in a dose-dependent manner. Exercise programs may increase bone mineral density. CONCLUSION: In order to maximize the goals of public health most effective, individually adapted, intense, high impact exercise programs are needed. However, they may be complicated to communicate and adherence on the population level may be hard to achieve. These programs must be weighed against popular and applicable existing programs (e.g. aerobic classes, Tai Chi, and walking) which appear to be easier to adhere to but appear to be less effective in the prevention of osteoporotic fractures in the individual postmenopausal women."  Abstract: PubMed.

The Effect of Exercise and Alagebrium on the Diastolic Function of the Heart (AGE)

Clinical trial currently seeking participants. Location: The Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine Recruiting Dallas, Texas. The purpose of this study is to determine whether an investigational drug (Alagebrium (generic: ALT-711), a type of medication referred to as an advanced glycaton end-product clever) can be combined with exercise training to reverse the stiffening of the heart that takes place naturally with aging. Tai Chi and/or Yoga Training will be used. Ages Eligible for Study: 65 Years to 80 Years. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that AGE cross-links must be broken before a meaningful improvement in cardiac compliance can occur with exercise training in previously sedentary seniors; the combination of the AGE cross-link breaker, ALT-711, with exercise training will be superior to either intervention alone in improving cardiac compliance in these subjects.

Specific Aim: To test this hypothesis, we will study four groups of previously sedentary senior subjects for one year with the following interventions: A) sedentary controls taking placebo; B) sedentary subjects taking ALT-711; C) subjects undergoing moderate intensity exercise training while taking placebo and D) subjects undergoing moderate intensity exercise training while taking ALT-711.  Details: ClinicalTrials.gov.

A comparison of flexibility after a single-bout of Ashtanga and Bikram Yoga

This M.S. thesis by Samatha Gallo, California State University, Fullerton (December 2009), points out that "There is very little research on yoga and nothing on the differences between styles, particularly Ashtanga and Bikram yoga. The purpose of this study was to compare flexibility after a single session of Bikram and Ashtanga yoga. Sixteen subjects (5 men, 11 women) with at least 6 months yoga experience were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The groups completed one session of Bikram and another of Ashtanga Yoga with a reversed order design separated by one week between yoga sessions. . . . Ashtanga and Bikram yoga were equally effective in producing trunk flexion flexibility. Right shoulder flexibility was greater due to the yoga treatment but style differences were measurement error. The heat generated through both styles had been enough to increase muscle flexibility in different areas of the body for this study. "  Abstract:  UMI ProQuest Dissertations & Theses with link to full pdf version (fee).