சியாட்டல்: மன அழுத்தத்துக்கு நல்ல மருந்து யோகா

மன அழுத்தத்துக்கு depression நல்ல மருந்து யோகா என்று ஆராய்ச்சியாளர்கள் கூறுகிறார்கள்.

Living Well: Researcher documents the benefits of yoga in lifting depression
By BOB CONDOR
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Like many of us who aspire to practice yoga, Dr. Chris Streeter is what she calls "variable."

"Sometimes I am doing it five times a week and other times maybe once a month," said Streeter, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the Boston University School of Medicine.

And, like many of us, Streeter would like to practice yoga more consistently. It flat-out makes her feel better and stronger. But let's cut Streeter some slack. Along with her physician duties at a major urban teaching hospital -- and two medical specialties to balance -- Streeter last month published a groundbreaking study showing that yoga works to ease depression and anxiety. The paper appeared in the May issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

"I'm quite sure this is the first study that's shown there is a measurable change in a major (brain) neurotransmitter with a behavioral intervention such as yoga," Streeter said. "What's really fabulous is this is hard science that is able to clearly document neurochemical changes in the brain."

In other words, no yoga bashing allowed. What Streeter and her colleagues discovered is that brain scans of yoga participants showed a significant boost in levels of the brain neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric, or GABA, immediately after a one-hour yoga session. Low GABA is associated with mild to moderate depression and anxiety, along with irritability some women experience during a menstrual cycle.

Streeter has been monitoring yoga in the research literature for a while now. She noted that a number of studies indicated that yoga can reduce anxiety and that regular yoga can decrease seizures in epilepsy patients. She knew that epilepsy drugs are designed to increase GABA, so she "put two and two together."

Eight yoga participants were recruited and 11 people were in the control group. The yoga participants were longtime practitioners who Streeter defined as "at least twice per week for at least four months." Everyone underwent a base-line scan, then the yoga participants performed a 60-minute session while the control group read magazines or novels but nothing directly aimed at lifting spirit or mood.

Everyone was rescanned immediately after the yoga or reading hours. GABA levels were up 27 percent, on average, among the yoga participants. Control group members showed no change.

"One thing is important to emphasize," Streeter said. "Don't use these study results to chuck your medications (for depression or anxiety). Always work with your doctor if you want to change or reduce your medications."

Importantly, Streeter took "all comers" in terms of yoga disciplines. Hatha, ashtanga, bikram, vinyasa and kripalu were all represented. Not restricting the type of yoga means the results are more applicable to our lives, where some of us might like the gentler hatha form or the "power yoga" connected with ashtanga.

Streeter explained there are three basic parts to yoga and its potential benefits: the asanas or postures, the breathing or prana exercises, and meditation.

"We picked the postures and the breathing exercises because they are common (across the disciplines) and observable," Streeter said. "My research assistant is a yoga practitioner, too. One or both of us observed the yoga sessions. The yoga practitioners were doing the basics, such as a sun salutation and spinal twists."

Some of Streeter's medical colleagues criticized the study for not including an exercise group other than the yoga volunteers. They pointed to the large number of studies connecting aerobic exercise to decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms.

For her part, Streeter is not arguing against running or getting on the stair climber. She is more about offering up yoga as valid brain booster. The hard science of the study is undeniable.

Streeter learned earlier this month that the federal government's National Institutes of Health gave a high score to her research grant proposal for a larger yoga-GABA study beginning this fall. She will learn by September if the funding comes through.

"It will be a much bigger study," she said. "We will use yoga-naive people to gauge how a regular practice can change GABA levels. It will also include more ability to gauge the positive effects of yoga over time."

Let's call May an uplifting month for yoga advocates. In a separate published study, researchers at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, found that yoga postures and breathing exercises can help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches. The news, reported in the journal Headache, followed 72 migraine-troubled adults who were randomly assigned to take part in a yoga therapy program or a headache education group.

After five months of gentle yoga postures and breathing techniques, the yoga participants report fewer attacks and, no small thing to migraine sufferers, much less intense pain.

All of which strengthens the case for the mind-body -- and head -- connection between yoga and better health.

Bob Condor writes about health and quality of life every Monday. You can send him ideas or questions at bobcondor@aol.com.