"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
George Bernard Shaw May/June 2007

Medical Studies Explore Yoga's Health Benefits

Over the last few months we have seen the publication of several interesting medical studies that confirm the beneficial impact of yoga and/or meditation on a variety of conditions. Space limitations preclude us from summarizing every study but we have included those with broad interest.

We start with a fascinating study indicating that regular meditation may boost brain activity and thicken the cerebral cortex.

 

Brain gets a boost from meditation
Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital studied people who practice Buddhist insight meditation and found that those who practice meditation have a thicker cerebral cortex than those who don’t. The researchers used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to achieve the measurements.

 

The study included people who have practiced meditation for as little as one year and as many as 30. The longer they had practiced, the thicker the cortex. All practice meditation for an average of about 40 minutes a day. Sara Lazar, a research scientist at Massachusetts General and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, said some of the study participants also practice yoga and they also appeared to realize benefits from their yoga practice. She said it appears that it is not just one type of meditation that produces benefits. The most important thing, Lazar said, is to find a practice you enjoy and do it regularly.

 

Gentle Yoga Helps Relieve Back Pain
A study published in the December (2006) Annals of Internal Medicine and reported in The Washington Post, found yoga offered sustained improvement to people with chronic back pain. The study randomly assigned 101 adults (age 20 to 64) with chronic low back pain to 12 weeks of yoga classes, general exercise classes of self-treatment guided by the “The Back Pain Helpbook.” Those in the yoga and exercise groups attend a weekly 75-minute class and were free to practice at home. Most said they did. The book group did exercises, some back specific, at home.

 

The yoga and exercise teachers tailored classes specifically to address back pain. “Yoga poses included cobra, bridge, warrior, lunge and lying twist,” according to the Post article. Each class used five to 12 postures, each repeated three to six times, plus a period of deep relaxation. The exercise class included seven aerobic exercises and 10 strengthening moves that focused on leg, hip, abdominal and back muscles.

 

All of the participants reported some improvement. However, only the yogis demonstrated sustained improvement after 26 weeks. Seventyeight percent of the yogis improved significantly compared with 63 percent of exercisers and 47 percent of book readers.

 

Help for Breast Cancer Patients and Survivors
A yoga program that includes gentle asanas, breathing exercises and meditation offers benefits to women with metastatic breast cancer that include less pain and fatigue and more energy, relaxation and acceptance according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management in March of this year. Study leader Dr. James W. Carson of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina said the study offers “the first tentative evidence for yoga’s potential benefits for this vulnerable population of women with limited life expectancy.”

 

Thirteen women with metastatic breast cancer participated in “The Yoga Awareness Program,” attending yoga classes one day a week for eight weeks. Each class included breath awareness meditation, gentle asanas, pranayama, lectures on applying yoga philosophy to everyday life and cancer symptoms, and group discussions about yoga and the women’s experience with cancer. To support home practice the women were given a yoga mat, blanket, audio instructions and an illustrated guidebook. Participants were an average of 59-years old and had first been diagnosed an average of seven years earlier. All said they would recommend the program to other women.

 

The study says the program was “helpful in significantly boosting daily invigoration and a sense of acceptance.” Researchers also reported “trends for improvement in pain and relaxation.” They also found that “greater practice on a given day was associated with improvements not only on the same day, but on the next day as well.”

 

A second study conducted at Washington State University found that yoga not only promotes psychological well-being but also seems to offer immune system benefits.

 

Lead Researcher Pamela E. Schultz reported that she and her colleagues randomly assigned 10 breast cancer survivors to eight weeks of Iyengar yoga (two classes and one solo session at home per week) and nine to a wait-list control group. The women’s average age was 61 and all were about four years out from their initial diagnosis and were being treated with hormone therapy. None of the women had any prior experience with Iyengar yoga.

 

Psychosocial tests indicated an improved quality of life for those practicing yoga. Researchers also reported that the improvements correlated with decreased activation of an important immune system protein called NF-kB which is a marker of stress in the body.

 

Migraine Aid
A study done in India has provided preliminary evidence that integrated yoga therapy can be an effective treatment for migraines, reducing both their frequency and intensity.
> Seventy-two adults suffering from migraines were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One received yoga therapy including gentle asanas, breathing practices, relaxation and meditation. Participants practiced five days a week for one hour each day except on days when they were having a migraine attack or recovering from one.

 

The second group received education on managing their pain by avoiding migraine triggers and making diet and lifestyle changes.

 

After three months the yoga group showed an overall improvement in the frequency and intensity of their migraine attacks. The comparison group showed no change or worsened symptoms.

 

The researchers say that larger, longer-term studies should now be done to confirm the results. The full study can be found in the May 2007 issue of the journal Headache.

 

Promise in Easing Depression, Anxiety and Epilepsy
Practicing yoga may elevate an important brain chemical and should be explored as a possible treatment for depression, anxiety and epilepsy according to a study done at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and McLean Hospital.

 

The findings, which appear in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found that practicing yoga may elevate brain gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels. GABA is part of a family of neurotransmitters composed of amino acids. It is most abundant in the central nervous system, especially in the cerebral cortex which is largely responsible for high brain functions such as thought and interpreting sensations. Depression, anxiety disorders and epilepsy all are associated with low GABA levels.

 

The researchers compared the GABA levels of eight subjects prior to and after one hour of yoga, with 11 subjects who read for one hour. Results showed a 27 percent increase in GABA levels in the yoga group after their session, but no change in the comparison group following their reading session. The researchers were able to measure the GABA levels using magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging.

 

Researchers called the development of an inexpensive, widely available treatment with no side effects (such as yoga) that is effective in alleviating symptoms of disorders associated with low GABA levels a “clear public health advantage.”

 

Yoga, Walking Ease Menopause Symptoms
Moderate exercise such as yoga or walking may be able to make the transition through menopause a little easier, according to a study published in the April 2007 issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

 

The study, done at Penn State University, included 164 sedentary women who had been suffering hot flashes, night sweats and other menopausal symptoms. For four months one group practiced yoga for 90 minutes twice a week, one walked for one hour three times a week, and the third remained inactive. While no clear evidence was found that yoga or walking eased specific symptoms, the women in both groups reported and emotional lift and improved quality of life. “Interestingly,” the researchers said, “yoga participants also appeared to benefit in the sexual domain.”

 

The researchers suggest that more studies should be done to determine if yoga, walking or other forms of exercise can diminish specific symptoms.