Yoga Medical News Daily

Influence of sports climbing and yoga on patients with multiple sclerosis

The objectives of this study centered on the effects of sports climbing and yoga on spasticity, cognitive impairment, mood change and fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis. Both sports climbing and yoga are aerobic activities involving stretching.

Twenty subjects ranging in age from 26 to 50 with relapsing-remitting or progressive multiple sclerosis participated in the randomized study. Spasticity, cognitive function, mood and fatigue before and after both programs, that lasted 10 weeks, were evaluated.

The researchers concluded that yoga and sports climbing might improve some of the multiple sclerosis symptoms and should be considered in the future as possible complementary treatments. Abstract PubMed.  "Influence of sports climbing and yoga on spasticity, cognitive function, mood and fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis," by O. Velikonja, K. Curić, A. Ožura, S.S. Jazbec, Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery [2010 Apr 4]

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.

Yogi Baron Baptiste unveils My MS Yoga to help people with multiple sclerosis

On January 11, 2010, Biogen Idec, a global company focused on the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of innovative therapies, and its partner Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that Baron Baptiste, founder of Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga, and Dr. Elliot Frohman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program and Clinical Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, have teamed up to develop My MS Yoga, a new program created especially for people with multiple sclerosis. 

My MS Yoga is an at-home exercise program that can be tailored to meet MS patients’ needs depending on how they are feeling on any given day. A free copy of the My MS Yoga DVD can be ordered from the My MS Yoga site.

Biogen Idec also announced recently Dr. John Richert will join the company from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, where he served as executive vice president for Research and Clinical Programs. Dr. Nancy Richert M.D., Ph.D., will also be joining Biogen Idec; most recently she served as a staff clinician at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and on the consulting staff at the Children's National Medical Center. 

Getting the Balance Right: A randomised controlled trial of physiotherapy and exercise interventions for ambulatory people with multiple sclerosis

Describes a current, ongoing " . . . multi-centre, single blind, block randomised, controlled trial. Participants will be recruited via the ten regional offices of MS Ireland. Telephone screening will establish eligibility and stratification according to the mobility section of the Guys Neurological Disability Scale. . . . The Getting the Balance Right study is funded by Multiple Sclerosis Ireland, through fundraising as Tesco Charity of the year and from the Pobal, Dormant Accounts, Flagship Project Fund."  Abstract and full text of article offering details of control groups, methodology, and interventions at BMC Neurology, (2009, 9:34).