Yoga can be better than physical therapy in delivering improvements to quality of life of people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a new study has found.
A three-month yoga programme was seen to deliver benefits to physical and social functioning and mental health, researchers found.
“Regular yoga classes under the guidance of qualified staff are a promising method of non-drug rehabilitation of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with motor disorders,” say the authors of the study.
Yoga is associated with reducing depression, pain and fatigue, and improving mobility, and is often used by people with MS to support them in relieving stiffness, improving muscle weakness and improving walking difficulties.
In this study, the authors compared physical exercise to the impact of a yoga program or else no exercise at all, judging its benefits against symptoms including walking, balance and fatigue.
The research was carried out with 56 outpatients at a hospital in Moscow.
Yoga and physical therapy sessions were held twice a week for 12 weeks, with classes lasting up to 75 minutes.
Yoga classes consisted of 13 basic and alternative poses. Physical therapy comprised a warm-up, endurance training, aerobic exercises, and relaxation and breathing.
In the no-exercise group, participants led their normal lifestyle without the regular practice of yoga or regular physical exercises.
“These studies are very important because they could allow finding approaches to increase the motivation of MS patients and to improve their rehabilitation,” the researchers wrote.
While yoga had no impact on symptoms, patients in the yoga group showed a significant improvement in their quality of life scores, as measured with the 36-item short form health survey (SF-36).
In particular, yoga patients scored better on measures of physical and social functioning, life activity, and mental health after 12 weeks.
Only two patients in the physical therapy group reported side effects, including pain and back pain. No side effects were reported with yoga.
“In this randomised controlled trial, we have demonstrated the efficiency of specially designed Iyengar yoga program,” the researchers wrote, noting more research is needed to “examine the impact of yoga on clinical patient improvement and quality of life indicators.”
