Yoga Reduces Symptoms of Distress in Tsunami Survivors in the Andaman Islands

A month after the December 2004 tsunami the effect of a 1 week yoga program was evaluated on self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and disturbed sleep in 47 survivors in the Andaman Islands. Polygraph recordings of the heart rate, breath rate and skin resistance were also made. Among the 47 people, 31 were settlers from the mainland (i.e. India, ML group) and 16 were endogenous people (EP group). There was a significant decrease in self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and disturbed sleep in both groups, and in the heart and breath rate in the ML group, and in the breath rate alone in the EP group, following yoga (P < 0.05, t-test). This suggests that yoga practice may be useful in the management of stress following a natural disaster in people with widely differing social, cultural and spiritual beliefs

Post traumatic stress symptoms and heart rate variability in Bihar flood survivors following yoga: a randomized controlled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An earlier study showed that a week of yoga practice was useful in stress management after a natural calamity. Due to heavy rain and a rift on the banks of the Kosi river, in the state of Bihar in north India, there were floods with loss of life and property. A week of yoga practice was given to the survivors a month after the event and the effect was assessed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-two volunteers (group average age ± S.D, 31.5 ± 7.5 years; all of them were males) were randomly assigned to two groups, yoga and a non-yoga wait-list control group. The yoga group practiced yoga for an hour daily while the control group continued with their routine activities. Both groups' heart rate variability, breath rate, and four symptoms of emotional distress using visual analog scales, were assessed on the first and eighth day of the program.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a significant decrease in sadness in the yoga group (p < 0.05, paired t-test, post data compared to pre) and an increase in anxiety in the control group (p < 0.05, paired t-test, post data compared to pre).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A week of yoga can reduce feelings of sadness and possibly prevent an increase in anxiety in flood survivors a month after the calamity.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinical Trials Registry of India: CTRI/2009/091/000285</p

Understanding motivators and barriers for yoga practice in obese and non-obese individuals

Background: Yoga is a comprehensive lifestyle intervention which has been used for weight management by overweight and obese. Yoga is also used as therapy for various other ailments by both obese and non-obese individuals. However, the motivators and barriers of yoga in obese persons compared to non-obese has not been reported. Methods: The present cross-sectional comparative control trial included 200 participants of both sexes aged between 13 and 80 years. Of these, 102 were obese and 98 were non-obese. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test. Results: The most common motivators for yoga were: reducing symptoms of illness (35% for obese versus 21.73% for non-obese), pain relief, (21% for obese versus 10.86% for non-obese) and lifestyle changes (9% for obese versus 10.86% for non-obese). The most common barriers for yoga were: no time (29.54% for obese versus 42.25% for non-obese), physical incapability of practicing yoga (18.18% for obese versus 16.9% for non-obese) and tiredness (15.9%) for obese and no interest/motivation (15.49%) for non-obese. Conclusions: The motivators to yoga for obese are comparable to non-obese with obese use yoga more frequently for “reducing symptoms of illness”. Also, the barriers to yoga are comparable to obese with normal weight for “no time”

Effect of yoga on self-rated visual discomfort in computer users

BACKGROUND: 'Dry eye' appears to be the main contributor to the symptoms of computer vision syndrome. Regular breaks and the use of artificial tears or certain eye drops are some of the options to reduce visual discomfort. A combination of yoga practices have been shown to reduce visual strain in persons with progressive myopia. The present randomized controlled trial was planned to evaluate the effect of a combination of yoga practices on self-rated symptoms of visual discomfort in professional computer users in Bangalore. METHODS: Two hundred and ninety one professional computer users were randomly assigned to two groups, yoga (YG, n = 146) and wait list control (WL, n = 145). Both groups were assessed at baseline and after sixty days for self-rated visual discomfort using a standard questionnaire. During these 60 days the YG group practiced an hour of yoga daily for five days in a week and the WL group did their usual recreational activities also for an hour daily for the same duration. At 60 days there were 62 in the YG group and 55 in the WL group. RESULTS: While the scores for visual discomfort of both groups were comparable at baseline, after 60 days there was a significantly decreased score in the YG group, whereas the WL group showed significantly increased scores. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the yoga practice appeared to reduce visual discomfort, while the group who had no yoga intervention (WL) showed an increase in discomfort at the end of sixty days

Yoga and Rehabilitation: Physical, Psychological, and Social

Non peer reviewe

Research on Traditional Medicine: What Has Been Done, the Difficulties, and Possible Solutions

Traditional medicine (TM) is being used more frequently all over the world. However most often these are choices made by the patient. Integrating TM into mainstream health care would require research to understand the efficacy, safety, and mechanism of action of TM systems. This paper describes research done on TM and difficulties encountered in researching TM, especially when an attempt is made to conform to the model for conventional medicine. The research articles were PubMed searched and categorized as experimental, quasiexperimental, reviews, descriptive, historical, interviews, case histories, and abstract not available. The last part of the report provides suggestions to make research on TM more acceptable and useful, with the ultimate goal of integrating TM into mainstream healthcare with sufficient knowledge about the efficacy, safety, and mechanism of action of TM systems

Effect of Body Mass Index on work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress of computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Work urgency, accuracy and demands compel the computer professionals to spend longer hours before computers without giving importance to their health, especially body weight. Increase of body weight leads to improper Body Mass Index (BMI) may aggravate work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress. The objective of the study was to find out the effect of BMI on work related musculoskeletal discomforts and occupational stress of computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A descriptive inferential study has been taken to analyze the effect of BMI on work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress. A total of 100 computer workers, aged 25-35 years randomly selected on convenience from software and BPO companies in Bangalore city, India for the participation in this study. BMI was calculated by taking the ratio of the subject's height (in meter) and weight (in kilogram). Work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress of the subjects was assessed by Cornell University's musculoskeletal discomfort questionnaire (CMDQ) and occupational stress index (OSI) respectively as well as a relationship was checked with their BMI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant association (p < 0.001) was seen among high BMI subjects with their increase scores of musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From this study, it has been concluded that, there is a significant effect of BMI in increasing of work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress among computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup.</p