Yoga Medical News Daily

Clinical trial focuses on Iyengar yoga for young people with rheumatoid arthritis

This clinical trial is currently recruiting participants at the UCLA Pediatric Pain Program Research Offices, Los Angeles, California, United States, 90064. "The purpose of the study is to compare a standardized 6 week Iyengar Yoga program (IYP) for adolescents and young adults with rheumatoid arthritis to a standard care wait-list condition. In addition to effects on function and pain, this study will explore intervention effects on disease activity, immune response, HRQOL, functionality, and mood. Results will shed light on the feasibility and potential efficacy of a novel intervention (Iyengar yoga) for rheumatoid arthritis symptoms."  

The intervention will include Iyengar Yoga classes twice a week for six weeks. Inclusion criteria for the trial: people with rheumatoid arthritis between the ages of 16-35. For additional details about inclusion as a well as exclusion criteria for participating in the study as well as the scope of the study see:  ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01096823.

Trial underway in Seattle to assess yoga's effectiveness on chronic low back pain

This trial will investigate whether yoga is effective for treating chronic low back pain compared with self care and exercise and will explore the mechanisms responsible for any observed benefits. "A total of 210 participants with low back pain lasting at least 3 months will be recruited from primary care clinics of a large healthcare system based in Seattle. They will be randomized in a 2:2:1 ratio to receive 12 weekly yoga classes, 12 weekly conventional therapeutic exercise classes of comparable physical exertion, or a self-care book. . .  Information will be collected on specific physical, psychological, and physiological factors to allow exploration of possible mechanisms of action through which yoga could relieve back pain and dysfunction. The effectiveness of yoga will be assessed using analysis of covariance (using general estimating equations - GEE) within an intention-to-treat context. If yoga is found effective, further analyses will explore whether yoga's benefits are attributable to physical, psychological and/or physiological factors."

". . . This study will provide the clearest evidence to date about the value of yoga as a therapeutic option for treating chronic back pain, and if the results are positive, will help focus future, more in-depth, research on the most promising potential mechanisms of action identified by this study." ClinicalTrials.gov ID number of NCT00447668. Abstract: PubMed PMID: 20356395. "Comparison of yoga versus stretching for chronic low back pain: protocol for the Yoga Exercise Self-care (YES) trial," by Karen J Sherman, Daniel C Cherkin, Andrea J Cook, Rene J Hawkes, Richard A Deyo, Robert Wellman and Partap S Khalsa, Trails Journal [2010 Mar 31;11(1):36]

New yoga controlled trial funded by Arthritis Research Campaign planned

A systematic review of three small randomised controlled trials of yoga for low back pain revealed the positive effects of yoga. "To build on these studies a larger trial, with longer term follow-up, and a number of different yoga teachers delivering the intervention is required. This study protocol describes the details of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Yoga for chronic Low Back Pain, which is funded by Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) and is being conducted by the University of York. 262 patients will be recruited from GP practices in 5 centres in England."

"Patients will be randomised to receive usual care or 12 weekly classes of yoga. A yoga programme will be devised that can be delivered by yoga teachers of the two main national yoga organisations in the UK (British Wheel of Yoga and Iyengar Yoga Association (UK). Trial registration: Current controlled trials registry ISRCTN81079604 (date registered 30/03/2007)." Abstract: PubMed PMID: 20347837.  H. Cox, et al, "A pragmatic multi-centred randomised controlled trial of yoga for chronic low back pain: trial protocol," Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice [2010 May;16(2):76-80]

Yoga as a component for improving hand use in those with multiple sclerosis

This Improving Hand Use in Multiple Sclerosis clinical trial sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society "will compare two different kinds of physical therapy to improve use of the hands in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). One treatment will be Constraint-Induced Movement therapy (CI therapy), the other will be a set of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatments (yoga, relaxation exercises, aquatherapy, massage). The study will determine which of the two forms of treatment is more successful for improving hand use. Volunteers between the ages of 21 to 80 years who have been diagnosed with non-relapsing multiple sclerosis (primary progressive MS, secondary progressive MS) and have reduced use of one of the hands because of MS are needed for the study.  For additional details on the length and treatments to be used during this to be conducted in Birmingham, Alabama, see:  ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01081275.

Mindfulness Meditation for Persons with Schizophrenia

Study currently recruiting participants. Location: Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis. The focus of the study is to "develop a treatment manual for mindfulness meditation to be taught in a group format to individuals with schizophrenia who are engaged in vocational rehabilitation. This study will determine whether mindfulness meditation is beneficial in terms of reducing distressing emotional states and thinking patterns and improving work function." 

"A total of 66 individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder will be recruited from the Roudebush VA Medical Center in order to ensure a total study sample of 55. In phase one, manual development, 18 participants will be recruited and following informed consent, screened for eligibility using the SCID and anxiety measures. Once enrolled, three successive groups of 5-6 participants will attend an 8-week mindfulness program consisting of two 60-minute group training and practice sessions each week . . . ."  Details, inclusion criteria: ClinicalTrails.gov.

Insomnia: Behavioral Treatments

Clinical Trial currently seeking participants.  Location: Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute Recruiting Los Angeles, California,  Inclusion criteria: Older than 55 years of age at time of entry, difficulties with sleep for a minimum of 3 nights per week, and sleep-onset delay, maintenance insomnia, or terminal insomnia. 

"Preliminary studies found that Tai Chi Chih (TCC), a slow moving meditation, contributes to improvements in subjective sleep quality, sleep amounts and sleep efficiency, alterations in sympathetic activity, decreases in proinflammatory cytokines, and improvements in health functioning in community-dwelling older adults. Additionally, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) confers benefits on sleep outcomes.

"In this randomized, controlled trial, 150 older adults will be randomly assigned to CBT, TCC, or sleep hygiene/education control (EC) over 16 weeks and followed for one year. The aims of this project are to: 1) evaluate the effects of CBT vs TCC vs. EC on objective and subjective measures of sleep and on fatigue, mood, and health functioning in older adults with insomnia; 2) determine the effects of CBT vs.TCC vs. EC on measures of proinflammatory cytokine activity and sympathovagal balance, and whether these two biological mechanisms are related to changes of disordered sleep over the course of the treatment trial; and 3) evaluate whether circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines are associated with measures of sleep continuity in older adults with insomnia over the treatment trial. This study will advance psychobiological models of disordered sleep and the potential benefits of two readily exportable behavioral interventions for promoting improvements in sleep outcomes in the elderly."  Additional details: ClinicalTrials.gov.

Clinical trial in the Netherlands: Cost Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training in Adolescents

Study currently recruiting participants. Locations: Netherlands, Zuid-Holland Leiden University Medical Centre Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; Rivierduinen Mental Health Centre, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; and University Medical Centre St. Radboud, Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands. 

"In recent years, there has been a marked rise in the frequency of young people engaging in Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH). DSH refers to all kinds of self-harming behaviour, with and without suicidal intent. Early identification and treatment of persons who engaged in DSH is important because every episode of DSH increases the risk of future episodes and, eventually, suicide. A number of comprehensive treatment programs have been developed and proven to be effective in reducing DSH in adults. Especially the modification of inadequate emotion regulation strategies seems to be essential in the prevention of future episodes of DSH. The first short-term results of a Dutch time-limited and structured individual cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for DSH in adolescents and young adults also showed positive effects on repetition of DSH and associated problems."

The objective of this research is to study "the effects and costs of the total individual CBT package and one of the components of the total CBT treatment package (i.e. mindfulness training) in a group format compared to Treatment-as-Usual (TAU) on the short and long term."  Details: ClinicalTrials,gov.

Clinical Trial now underway in Taipei: Tai Chi Exercise in Older People

Clinical study currently recruiting participants. Location: Taipei Medical University Recruiting Taipei, Taiwan. Interventions will include Yang-style tai chi with 13 movements every week over the 6-month intervention period at a subject's residence by tai chi instructors. Participants must be 60 years or older.  More details at: ClinicalTrials,gov. 

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:

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.