|
|
| May 31, 2012 | Yoga exercise beneficial for stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation | |
Washington: It might be beneficial to include yoga in the in-patient or out-patient rehabilitation people receive after a stroke, researchers have suggested. A study looking into the value of adapted yoga for stroke rehabilitation found that after an eight-week programme, study participants demonstrated improved balance and flexibility, a stronger and faster gait, and increased strength and endurance. The study, involving researchers from the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and IU Bloomington, exposed older veterans recovering from stroke
to yoga. The men and women had completed their post-stroke occupational and physical
therapy before the study but continued to have impairments. Arlene Schmid, rehabilitation
research scientist at the Roudebush VA Medical Center and principle investigator
of the VA-funded study, said loss of functional strength, flexibility and endurance
is common after a stroke, which can lead to long-term disability. “Clinicians
need methods to manage and improve these post-stroke physical impairments,” said
Schmid, also an assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Health
and Rehabilitation Sciences at IUPUI. Her analysis examined gains in functional
strength, flexibility and endurance as a result of the yoga and found significant
improvements in all areas. The yoga activities, she said in her report, might
have “improved neuromuscular control, likely allowing for strength improvements
in affected limbs, sides or areas of disuse.” Tracy Dierks, associate professor
of physical therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, focused
his analysis of study findings on how well study participants could walk after
the program. He reported that after the yoga program, the study participants showed
improved balance and faster gait speeds with longer steps or strides. But, while
the veterans could walk faster, they were unable to sustain this faster speed
for the duration of the six-minute test. “The gait findings from our study have
the potential to greatly impact clinical practice for gait recovery. The yoga
intervention was designed to improve balance, not gait; we did not focus on improving
gait at all. Yet we saw major improvements in most clinical gait measurements.
But one often overlooked deficit remained: the inability to sustain gait speed
for endurance,” Dierks said. The findings from two new analyses of the study will
be presented on Wednesday during the annual meeting of the American College of
Sports Medicine in San Francisco.
|
|
|
|
Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
|
