Yoga
This ancient practice, modern science shows, may be good for the heart
by Polly Turner
In India, many patients routinely engage in yoga, a 5,000-year-old practice combining mindfulness and physical postures, to help manage their high blood pressure and diabetes. At the University of Virginia, a researcher has taken a close look at the scientific studies on therapeutic yoga and has found promising results.
It's well known that yoga's unique physical postures, in combination with its breathing exercises and meditation, can reduce stress and make the body stronger, more limber. But the benefits may run deeper: "The evidence suggests that yoga may reduce a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes and may aid in the management of these chronic disorders," says Kim E. Innes, Ph.D., assistant professor at UVA Health System's Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies. Innes's reviews of published studies on yoga, co-authored with UVA colleagues, have appeared in the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.
breaking the cycle
Yoga appears to be effective in managing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that bring an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. "Although it's not yet well understood how yoga and other mind-body therapies reduce risk factors related to the metabolic syndrome," Innes says, "the mechanisms likely involve reducing activation of the sympathetic nervous system, alleviating stress, and promoting feelings of well-being."
Chronic stress can cause a destructive, self-perpetuating cascade of psychological and physiological changes that can lead to metabolic syndrome. Yoga may help break this negative cycle. "You see positive changes in blood pressure and heart rate, in cardiovascular reactivity and function, in stress, mood and energy, in the way you metabolize foods, and in many other related factors," Innes says. However, she adds, more high quality studies are needed. Innes and her research team are conducting trials in older adults to examine the effects of yoga on specific heart disease risk factors related to the metabolic syndrome.
something for everyone
Yoga is safe, inexpensive to practice, easy to learn, and requires little in the way of equipment, Innes notes. It can be performed by the young or old, by people who are in wheelchairs, have chronic illnesses, or are very obese. Even five minutes a day of the meditative, physical and breathing exercises, she believes, can have powerful effects.
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This article appeared in the summer 2008 issue of Vim & Vigor, a family health magazine sponsored by UVA Health System. If you don't already receive it at home, sign up today. It's free.