Study: Group yoga can benefit people who have had strokes

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According to a recent study published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke, group yoga can be beneficial to people who have had strokes, helping them to continue improving their balance after their formal rehabilitative care has ended.

"For people with chronic stroke, something like yoga in a group environment is cost-effective and appears to improve motor function and balance," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Arlene Schmid, a rehabilitation research scientist at Roudebush Veterans Administration-Medical Center and Indiana University.

A stroke occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted. Depending on the severity of it and what part of the brain is affected, patients can suffer temporary or permanent disabilities that include a loss of balance and coordination among other impairments.

Typically, natural and acute rehabilitation ends after six months or a year, Schmid said. But the brain can still change - in ways a medical facility would no longer be measuring or treating once the patient is discharged.

"The problem is the health-care system is not necessarily willing to pay for that change," she said.

In what one local doctor called a Cadillac type of scenario, a patient who has suffered a stroke - depending on its severity - will receive in-patient care at the hospital for a month, then be discharged and get out-patient treatment for several more months, "but it's very rare to be in therapy more than four or six months."

A stroke patient needs to continue some sort of regimen, if not to further rehabilitation then to maintain any gains that are made, said Dr. John Carment, an assistant professor of geriatrics at the OU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa.

Last year, Carment partnered with the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Center to look at what impact yoga, tai chi and strength training had on older adults. The study, which included groups of 20 to 30 healthy people, found both tai chi and yoga improved the balance of the participants, but strength training had no real effect, Carment explained.

So it wouldn't be far-fetched to think tai chi and yoga would have the same effect on stroke victims, he said. Although neither are proven, he said, they would be beneficial.

Although the recent stroke paper was a considerably small study, it is one that could get families of stroke survivors to think outside the box, Carment said.

Yoga done right

People who have had a stroke must be careful about how and with whom they exercise, said yoga teacher Rebecca Ward of The Yoga Room in Brookside.

"Yoga done right can heal, but wrong is really harmful," said Ward, who is also a practicing registered nurse.

Depending on a person's complications, he or she may have limited movement. A yoga instructor should not only be familiar with clients' health status but trained and certified to work with them.

The type and severity of a stroke can dictate whether patients can lower their head below their waist or have to keep it in a neutral position, for instance, Ward said.

"It's better to err on the side of safety," said Ward, who went on to describe yoga's benefits.

"It affects you on all levels. It can affect your posture, your circulatory system, it works on that autonomic nervous system, your heart rate and the quality of your heart beat," Ward said.

But Ward hasn't seen a lot of clients who have had strokes in her studio. She attended an alternative medicine conference recently, and her peers reported only a small percentage of their clients were referred by a physician.

Ideally, yoga teachers could work in conjunction with traditional medicine staffs, Ward said.

But finding yoga therapists who are qualified to work with stroke survivors is a difficult task, although some occupational and physical therapists are incorporating yoga into their practice, Schmid said.

Researchers on the study said yoga may be more therapeutic than traditional exercise because of the combination of postures, breathing and meditation may produce effects that differ from simple exercise.

And yoga may be appealing, added Carment, because it's less intimidating than many high-impact activities.

Researchers point out more studies are needed, but Carment said he thinks the new findings will revolutionize what some people think about as rehabilitation.

"It's not just physical therapy or occupational therapy; there are other means to improve how you are doing," Carment said.

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Methodology

During the pilot study published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke, 47 participants - mostly men - were divided into three groups. One group met eight weeks, twice weekly for group yoga; another group met twice-weekly but also had a relaxation recording to use at least three times a week; and a usual medical care group did no rehabilitation.

The yoga classes, all taught by a registered yoga therapist, included modified yoga postures, relaxation and meditation and became more challenging by the week.

At the study's conclusion, all participants had to be able to stand on their own, and those participants who were in the yoga groups had significantly improved their balance in comparison with the group whose participants received no rehabilitation.

Original Print Headline: Yoga therapy

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Bravetta Hassell 918-581-8316
bravetta.hassell@tulsaworld.com

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20120816_44_D1_CUTLIN500338

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