Summary

Original source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051220/hl_nm/gentle_yoga_soothe_chronic_back_pain_dc

Details

• People plagued by chronic lower backaches may find some relief in yoga class, researchers reported Monday.
• Their study of 101 adults with persistent low back pain found that a gentle yoga class seemed to be a better alternative to either general exercise or a self-help book.
• Though people in the exercise class eventually improved to a similar degree as their yoga-practicing counterparts, yoga class brought quicker results.
• Sherman, a researcher at the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, and her colleagues report the findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine this week.
• It's estimated that 14 million Americans practice yoga, often as a way to treat chronic aches and pains.
• But, in the Western medical literature at least, there have been no published studies on the effects of yoga on chronic back pain, Sherman said.
• To look at the question, she and her colleagues randomly assigned 101 adults to take either 12 weeks of yoga class or 12 weeks of a standard therapeutic exercise class, or to follow the advice of a self-care book.
• The yoga class was conducted in what's known as the viniyoga style, which goes by the philosophy that poses should be adapted to the individual's needs.
• The instructor was experienced in therapeutic yoga, and the class was limited to basic poses that would not put too much strain on the back, Sherman explained.
• She pointed to one difference between the yoga practitioners and other two groups that remained over the long haul: At the last evaluation, the yogis were using less than half the amount of pain medication their peers were.
• Why this is, and why yoga showed a quicker benefit for low back pain, is an open question.
• But Sherman speculated that yoga's "mind and body effects" are at work.

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