For many older Americans, the pain and embarrassment of osteoarthritis is often too much to bear.
However, now a new study from researchers in Ohio say there may be one way to ease arthritis pain naturally–through yoga.
“Yoga reduces stress which is known to exacerbate arthritis,” say the authors of the study, who work on behalf on the University of Cincinnati’s Health Promotion and Education Program in Cincinnati, Ohio. “Yoga can improve coping and by altering perspective toward life provide spiritual solace.”
Published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a health journal, the research included a review of nine studies completed between 2010 and 2013. Compiling the data, researchers used to it to examine how yoga specifically improved certain physical complaints made by older Americans, such as morning stiffness, joint pain, and lack of physical function.
Studying its effects, researchers found that those who did yoga regularly were less likely to have these physical health problems, as well as lower levels of depression–a common complication of osteoarthritis.
“Self-management and increasing physical activity is of paramount importance in management of arthritis,” say researchers. “Further large-scale studies should be carried out exploring the benefits of yoga for patients with arthritis.”
Reviewing how the studies were carried out, researchers found that a variety of yoga programs helped many of the participants overcome their arthritis symptoms, including loss of mobility and stiffness in the knees and hips.
How much they practiced yoga varied too, according to reports, ranging from one per week to twice per day.
For Rodale News health contributor Adam Bean, these benefits aren’t exactly breakthrough findings either–as a number of previous studies have also found similar benefits from practicing yoga regularly.
This may not be news to those who practice yoga, but even die-hard enthusiasts will be surprised at the number of other health benefits yoga can confer–often to a larger degree than aerobic exercise.,” says Bean. “The researchers found that yoga outperformed aerobic exercise at improving balance, flexibility, strength, pain levels among seniors, menopausal symptoms, daily energy level, and social and occupation functioning, among other health parameters.”
However, if this wasn’t enough, yoga alone has many other health benefits that aren’t just great for arthritis sufferers–researchers also say that it helps lower food cravings (eating too much can lead to weight gain, which worsens joint pain), stops insomnia, and even lowers the risk for other potentially serious chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.
Clearly, if you’re looking for a workout that clearly does it all, then you can’t go wrong here.
“What is clear from this analysis is that yoga should no longer be seen as something even remotely “fringey,” or even as something that’s only good for improving flexibility,” says Bean. “Rather, this research makes it clear that yoga deserves a permanent place at the health and fitness table, alongside other forms of exercise that may be more familiar to most people.”
Readers: Have you tried yoga before?
Sources:
Benefits of Yoga – RodaleNews.com
Yoga Eases Arthritis Symptoms – DailyMail.co.uk
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