Yoga's Healing Powers

by Ram

Morning Glory by Melina Meza

Undoubtedly, all of us who do yoga as part of our daily routine have experienced its benefits, either at the physical, mental, or emotional level or at all levels. We all agree that it is relaxing, it is calming, and above all it has helped us in our flexibility and strength. Additionally, for some of us, yoga has helped in the healing of the heart, brain, gut, colon, kidney, hips, spine, and so forth. And all the anecdotal reports of the benefits that people have raved about are now being proved by empirical findings. In one of the largest studies of health benefits of yoga, it appears that yoga can reduce inflammation, the body's attempt at self-protection. Before I describe the study, let me briefly discuss inflammation and its positive versus negative health effects.

Inflammation is part of your body's defense response; the objective is to remove damaged cells, harmful irritants, or toxic pathogens from the body and initiate a healing response. While inflammation is not infection, an infection itself caused by bacteria, virus, or fungus can trigger an inflammatory process. Inflammation has a high beneficial value. For example, if you develop a viral infection or if your back sustains a severe blow, inflammation sets in to care and protect the injured tissue. The classical signs of inflammation are pain, heat, redness, and fluid accumulation (swelling). Other signs include: fever, chills, fatigue/loss of energy, muscle aches, headaches, and loss of appetite. All these signs are the body’s defensive strategies were activated to ward off the damage and heal the injured area. These defensive strategies are carried out by an arsenal of molecules that fight the invaders. The molecules include but are not limited to: leukocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, mast cells, bradykinin, histamine, interleukins, and TNF, among others. Thus, the inflammatory process is akin to a country’s defense system involving several units of entities of increasing specificity that culminate in the removal of invaders and promote healing of any damaged tissue. In a perfect setting, the inflammatory process occurs just as it should: releasing defense/pro-inflammatory molecules when needed and then turning them off when the threat has been sufficiently addressed.

Now imagine if this body’s strong defense system turns awry and the defending molecules take on their own body’s system (akin to a coup). That would be the negative aspects seen in chronic inflammation, which are characterized by a defense response that is aberrant, out of control, and not completely turned off. Just like a constant, slow-burning fire, in chronic inflammation the defense/pro-inflammatory molecules continue to be present in the body even when they are not needed and the body operates as if it is constantly under attack. Thus, chronic inflammation draws on your body’s energy and resources, which can with time result in bodily damage. Additionally, when this system goes out of control, it self-perpetuates and triggers disease conditions, such as, atherosclerosis (inflammation in blood vessels), diabetes (inflammation in pancreatic tissue), arthritis (inflammation in bones and joints), celiac disease (inflammation in digestive system), fibromyalgia, and neuralgia (inflammation in limbs, muscles and nerves), among others. It is as though the body’s defense system fails to distinguish its own self, making the body vulnerable to attacks from its own defense team. The causes of chronic inflammation are numerous and include age, genetic predisposition, smoking, environmental stressors, allergens, chronic stress (both physical and mental), poor foods (sugary, processed, or fast food), and hormonal imbalance, among others.

But there’s good news for those of us who have a regular yoga practice. Several studies now report that a regular yoga practice:

1. suppresses inflammation
2. lowers the level of several pro-inflammatory molecules in the body
3. reduces a subset of pro-inflammatory molecules called cytokines, thereby relieving severe pain associated with the inflamed tissue

More specifically, studies report that yoga reduces inflammation in patients with cardiovascular problems and also improves levels of glucose and insulin in diabetic patients. There are also reports demonstrating yoga’s role in curbing inflammation that may serve as a panacea for people recovering from cancer. It turns out that following several rounds of radiation and/or chemotherapy cancer survivors suffer from persistent and debilitating fatigue for months or even years. Scientists believe that the cancer treatment procedures trigger an inflammatory process that fails to turn off. In addition to the weakness and pain from the cancer therapy procedures, these patients now suffer from inflammation that draws on the body’s resources, resulting in chronic fatigue. It is estimated that about a third of breast cancer survivors suffer from inflammation and chronic fatigue for several years after they complete treatment.

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Yoga’s Impact on Inflammation, Mood, and Fatigue in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Controlled Trial, researchers looked at 200 breast cancer survivors who had completed all the breast cancer treatments. The randomized, controlled trial involved only yoga novices. The yoga group practiced yoga twice a week for 12 weeks with take-home DVDs to practice at home. The control group was wait-listed to receive the same yoga sessions after the completion of the trial. The group that had practiced yoga for three months reported less fatigue and higher levels of vitality three months after the treatment had ended. The yoga group also reported significantly improved sleep. Additionally, three cytokine proteins in the blood that are markers for inflammation were all lowered by 10 to 15 percent. The novelty of the study was that it offered biological evidence of the benefits of yoga in addition to people's own reports of how they felt.

Cancer treatment leaves patients with high levels of stress, fatigue, and insomnia, which may trigger inflammation that in turn triggers tissue damage, leaving the patients completely debilitated and in a downward spiral. As we are now well aware, yoga reduces stress and fatigue (see Stress, Your Health, and Yoga ) and helps people to sleep better (see Sleep: A Pillar of Life), all of which may ultimately block the inflammatory process thus providing immense benefits to the cancer survivors. I guess you would agree with me that you cannot find a better, cheaper, and effective therapy for combating inflammation!

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