Health Benefits of Yoga Candace Martens February 16

Health Benefits of Yoga Candace Martens February 16, 2006 PAS 645 Division of Physician Assistant Studies College of Health Science University of Kentucky

Yoga • Sanskrit for “yoke” or “union” – Mind – Body – Spirit

Elements of Yoga • Asanas – poses • Pranayama – • • breathing Meditation Kriyas – cleansing processes

Brief History • Stone seals excavated from Indus • Valley carbon date to 3000 BC Vedas, ancient texts record Yogic teachings, 1800 – 300 BC – Pre-classical yoga • Buddhist – meditation and ethical thought • Jainism – “liberation of the spirit” • Hinduism – “physical purification process”

Brief History, cont’d • Classical yoga – 2 nd century AD – 8 paths to be memorized – Wisdom would be internalized • Post classical yoga – 1800 – The body should be treated as a temple • Physical fitness • Mental health

Clinical Relevance • Complimentary and Alternative Medicine – Mind/body • Prevention • General health • Rehabilitation

Health Benefits • Musculoskeletal • • System Nervous System Cardiovascular System

Musculoskeletal System • Exercise – Increased muscle strength – Flexibility – Stable joints • Osteoarthritis • Osteoporosis

Washington State University Research • Therapeutic intervention of cervical spondylosis – Degenerative disorder of cervical intervertebral discs – Nerve root irritation • Neck pain • Brachial neuralgia • Vertebro-basilar insufficiency

Washington State University Research, cont’d • 102 patients, ages 18 -60 • Pain assessment pre-therapy – 39% reported moderate pain – 60% reported severe pain • Performed specific asanas twice daily • for 8 weeks After 8 weeks re-assessment of pain – 100% patients reported NO pain

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome • 42 patients with CTS – Randomized – Treatment group (22) – Control group (20) – 11 asanas, twice weekly for 8 weeks – Pre-and-post therapy grip strength, pain intensity, sleep disturbance, Phalen sign, Tinel sign, and median nerve motor and sensory conduction time were measured

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome • Results – Yoga group showed significant improvement in grip strength, Phalen sign and a reduction in pain – Improvement was seen in other symptoms however, not significantly greater than control group

Cardiovascular System • Cedars-Sinai Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center – Preventative • “Stress management techniques” – Rehabilitation • Integral yoga – Hatha yoga

Hypertension • Two studies using • head-down-body up postural exercises Baroreceptor reflex – – Carotid sinus Short term blood pressure regulator • Negative “g” sensitizes baroreceptor

Hypertension, cont’d • Pilot study on baroreceptor reflex – 20 male patients with essential hypertension – Patients discontinued drug therapy – Group I – tilt table – Group II – yoga poses

Hypertension, cont’d – 30 minutes daily – 3 weeks • Assessment measuring – Blood pressure – Blood catecholamines – Plasma renin activity • Results – Significant reduction (P<0. 001)

Additional Benefits • Stress – Suppresses immune system – Cardiac risk factor – Insomnia • Asthma

References • • • ABC of Yoga. Com. 2005. History of Yoga - A Complete Overview of the Yoga [online] http: //www. abc-ofyoga. com/beginnersguide/yogahistory. asp Adams, Jeanne. 2003. Exploring yoga to relieve menopausal symptoms. Holistic Nursing Practice. 17: 166 -167. American Yoga Association. 2005. General yoga information [online] http: //www. americanyogaassociation. org/contents. html Carpenter, Charles et al. 2004. CECIL Essentials of Medicine Sixth Edition. Philidelphia: W. B. Saunders Company. Chabner, Davi-Ellen. 2001. The Language of Medicine, 6 th Edition. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company. Cohen, Lorenzo, et al. 2004. Psychological adjustment and sleep quality in a randomized trial of the effects of Tibetan yoga intervention in patients with lymphoma. Wiley Inter. Science 100/10: 2253 -2260. Collins, Clare. 1998. Yoga: intuition, preventive medicine and treatment. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecolic and Neonatal Nursing. 27: 563 -568. Dean, Sharon, et al. 2000. Time Life: Health and Wellness Handbook. Nashville: The Southwestern Company. Garfinkel, Marian S. et al. 1998. Yoga-based intervention for carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized trial. JAMA 280: 1601 -1603. Heriza, Nirmala. 2004. Dr. Yoga A Complete Program for Discovering the Head-to-Toe Health Benefits of Yoga. New York: Penguin Group Inc. Jayasinghe, Satyajit R. 2004. Yoga in cardiac health. European Society of Cardiology 11: 369 -375. Konar, D. et al. 2000. Cardiovascular response to head-down-body-up postural exercise ( Sarvangasana). Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 44: 392 -400.

References • • • Kumar, Vinay, Abul K. Abbas, and Nelson Fausto. 2005. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7 th Edition. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders. Lalvani, Vilma. 2004. The Power of Yoga. New Jersey: Basic Health Publications, Inc. Mamtani, Ravinder. 2005. Ayurveda and yoga in cardiovascular diseases. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. 13: 155 -162. NCCAM: National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine. 2005. Mind-Body Medicine: An Overview [online]. Maryland: NCCAM [cited 13 July 2005]. Available from World Wide Web: (http: //www. nccam. nih. gov/health/backgrounds/mindbody. htm ). Raman, K and Blank, S. E. 2001. Yoga as a therapeutic intervention for cervical spondylosis. Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. 33: S 37. Selvamuthy, W. et al. 1998. A new physiological approach to control essential hypertension. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 42: 205 -213. Smith, Patti. 2005. A Path to Wellness. Better Health and Living. 1: 18 -19. Tortora, Gerard J. 1999. Principles of Human Anatomy. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Vijayalakshmi, P. Et al. 2004. Modulation of stress induced by isometric handgrip test in hypertensive patients following yogic relaxation training. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 44: 392 -400. Widmaier, Eric P. et al. 2004. Human Physiology The Mechanisms of Body Function, Ninth edition. New York: Mc. Graw-Hill Company, Inc. Wikipedia. 2005. Swami Satchidananda [online]. ( http: //www. en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Swami_Satchidananda) Yoga Gets Hearts Healthy. 2004. Yoga and Meditation 3 Times a Week Improves Heart Disease Risk [online]. (http: //www. webmd. com/content/Article/96/103877. htm )

Thank you