Practicing yoga exercises on a regular basis might lower reduce inflammation that rises as part of normal aging and stress. A new study by Ohio State University researchers showed that women who practiced yoga had lower amounts of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood.
IL-6 is part of the body’s inflammatory response. It’s been implicated in many age-related debilitating diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes and arthritis. Researchers believe that reducing inflammation can provide great health benefits.
In the study, women who practiced yoga showed smaller increases in IL-6 after stressful experiences than women the same age and weight who weren’t yoga practitioners. The study participants included 50 women with an average age of 41 who were divided into one of two groups: novice yoga practitioner or expert yoga practitioner. The experts had been practicing yoga weekly.
With the help of psychological tests, blood samples and stimulated stress, the researchers determined that the novice yogis had inflammatory cytokine IL-6 levels that were 41% higher than the experts. What was the stimulated stress? It sounds pretty awful to me: immersing a foot into extremely cold water for a minute and then solving a series of successively more difficult math problems without paper or pencil.
“We know that inflammation plays a major role in many diseases. Yoga appears to be a simple and enjoyable way to add an intervention that might reduce risks for developing heart disease, diabetes and other age-related diseases,” said Ron Glaser, a co-author on the study.
It’s believed that the stretching and other exercises in yoga increase flexibility, allowing for relaxation, which may lower stress.
The research was funded in part by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health. The study findings are published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Will you practice yoga this year?
(Image via flickr.macinate)
Post from: Blisstree