D
oes yoga steady your heartrate?
A new study out of The University of Kansas shows that yoga decreases episodes of cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat whose symptoms can include chest pains, dizziness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath.
The research was conducted by Jeannie Drisko, MD and Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, MD. (The latter grew up in India with a yoga-teacher father.) Here’s what they did: Participants with arrhythmia spent three months doing their normal exercise routines. Over the next three months, they attended three yoga classes a week, which included pranayama, asanas, meditation, and relaxation.
At the end of the study, not only did the frequency of irregular heartbeat episodes decrease, but the participants also reported less anxiety and depression. Lakkireddy says:
“These
findings are important because many of the current conventional
treatment strategies for atrial fibrillation include invasive procedures
or medications with undesirable side effects.
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November 5th, 2009
wynona
A recent study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teens with eating disorders benefited from establishing a yoga practice, reports Time magazine. In the study, teens (mostly girls ages 11-16) with eating disorders showed longer-lasting improvement when they added a yoga practice to their treatment program. “Food preoccupation may be reduced by focusing attention on yoga poses,”
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October 5th, 2009
wynona
You probably already know that yoga can help your posture now, but a recent study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests yoga also can also help lower the risk of Dowager’s Hump in the elderly. Dowager’s Hump, an abnormal outward curvature of the vertebrae of upper back, is often due to osteoporosis and is most common among elderly women (though men can get them, too.)
In a group of elderly participants, those who did yoga three times a day for six
months saw their upper spine curve lowered by about 5 percent compared
to those who did no yoga, reported the Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society.
Read more about the study.
Read the whole story on:http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz/
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September 3rd, 2009
levis25
A study published recently in the journal Spine found that yoga may help relieve pain and improve mood in patients with chronic back pain. The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health found that patients who took a yoga class tailored to people with chronic back pain twice a week were in less pain and less likely to be depressed than their counterparts who did not practice yoga. (For more information about the study click here.
Are you surprised? Has yoga helped you or someone you know manage chronic back pain?
Read the whole story on:http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz/
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A recent study reveals that more Americans than ever–more than one-third of the population–use mind-body practices like yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises, and that their doctors are often the cheerleaders for these approaches. According to researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, one in 30 people were referred to mind-body therapies by a medical provider.