Low Level Physical Activity Benefits Knee Osteoarthritis

It’s well known that increasing the time spent doing moderate intensity physical activities has wide ranging benefits on health. Guidelines recommend 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. What about those unable to engage in moderate or vigorous physical activities due to health issues? Could light physical activity work too?

A study by professor Dunlop et al. looked at the effects of physical activity in people with knee osteoarthritis or risk factors for knee osteoarthritis. As well as finding benefits to moderate activity, they found that spending more time doing light intensity physical activities reduced the risk of onset and progression of disability due to osteoarthritis. They concluded that “an increase in daily physical activity time may reduce the risk of disability, even if the intensity of that additional activity is not increased.”

Breathing Exercises Help Treat PTSD

A study by Seppala et al, published in last month’s issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress, looked into the effects of yogic breathing on war veterans with post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). They found that after the course of controlled breathing exercises the test subjects had reductions in PTSD scores, anxiety symptoms, respiration rate, startle signs and other hyperarousal symptoms. The benefits were still present 1 year later. It’s thought that the breathing exercises help balance the autonomic nervous system.

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth;

not going all the way, and not starting.”

Buddha

Yoga Improves Mental Function

Gothe et al. from the University of Illinois recently conducted a study to look into the effects of hatha yoga on cognition. They recruited 118 senior citizens (mean age of 62) and randomly assigned them to one of 2 groups: a hatha yoga intervention group and a stretching/strengthening control group. Each group took part in hour-long exercise classes 3x/week for 8 weeks. At the end of the study period the yoga group showed improved results at information recall, mental flexibility and task switching. Whereas the stretching/strengthening group showed no improvement.

Although the underlying mechanisms are not known, it’s possible that the improvements in mental function may have been secondary to a reduction in stress. Alternatively, they may be down to the focussed attention on breathing, body position and movement.

Acupunture Mechanisms Revealed

Research on mice by da Silva et al has revealed new mechanisms underpinning the workings of acupuncture. They injected carrageenan into the calf muscles of mice. This created an inflammatory response with associated pain and swelling. Manual acupuncture of Spleen 6 (an acupuncture point in the lower leg) reduced pain, heat and swelling of the muscle. Repeated acupuncture of Spleen 6 produced a phenotypic change from pro-inflammatory cells (M1 macrophages) to anti-inflammatory cells (M2 macrophages) with an associated increase in interleukin-10 concentrations in muscle which led to reduced pain and inflammation.

The Brain Can Learn To Decrease Pain

New research led by Raymonde Scheuren from the University of Luxembourg has brought some new insights into the world of pain. It’s generally known that a pain present in one part of the body can be attenuated by painfully stimulating a different part of the body. This is known as diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC) and is thought to take place to allow the body to focus on the new, and potentially more important, threat to the body.

In their experiments, Scheuren et al. caused pain in subjects by electrically stimulating a foot. They then created a second source of pain by placing the opposite hand in a bucket of ice-cold water. As predicted, after the hand was immersed in cold water, the pain from the foot decreased. The interesting part of the experiment was when the insertion of the hand into cold water was repeatedly coupled with a phone ring tone. Afterwards, simply playing the ring tone (without placing a hand in cold water) was enough to decrease foot pain from the electrical stimulation! Conditioning had taken place. Conditioning is a form of learning where the physiological effect of a stimulus (ice-cold water) is reproduced by an unrelated stimulus (phone ring tone) by having the two repeatedly happen simultaneously. The one takes on the effect of the other.

The reverse effect possibly plays a part in chronic pain. Sights, sounds, smells and other sensations that were present during the traumatic incident that caused the injury can unconsciously become triggers for pain long after the injury has healed.

Yoga Can Help Prevent Diabetes (Type 2)

A new study by McDermott et al. was carried out to see if yoga could be effective at preventing type 2 diabetes in those who presented risk factors. The participants were randomly split into 2 groups: the yoga group and a walking group. The participants either had to attend a yoga class or complete monitored walking 3-6 times a week over an 8 week period.

Over the course of the study, there were significant reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, anxiety, depression, negative affect and perceived stress in both the yoga intervention and walking control groups but the yoga participants had significantly greater reductions in weight, waist circumference and BMI.

This study proves that yoga can reduce weight-related type 2 diabetes risk factors, which is interesting given that previous research has generally not shown yoga to be of benefit in weight control.

Relaxation Response

As mentioned in an earlier post, relaxation has many, many benefits. Through his extensive study of relaxation, Herbert Benson from the Harvard Medical School has put together an 8-step sequence that consistently elicits the relaxation response. The sequence has been proven scientifically and has been used for decades.

Step 1: Pick a focus word, phrase, image or short prayer or focus on your breathing. Choose a word or phrase that is meaningful and emotionally soothing for you. Repeat the word or phrase during your entire exhalation.

Step 2: Find a quiet place away from distractions and sit or lie down comfortably.

Step 3: Close your eyes.

Step 4: Progressively relax all your muscles, moving up from the tip of your toes to the top of your head or vice versa if you prefer.

Step 5: Breath slowly and naturally, silently repeating your chosen word or phrase as you slowly exhale. Alternatively, you can focus on a picture or object or simply pay attention to your breath.

Step 6: Assume a passive attitude. Reserve any judgement regarding how well you are doing or whether it is working. If and when your mind strays to unrelated thoughts, simply think “oh well” and kindly and gently bring your attention back to your word, phrase, object or breath.

Step 7: Continue with this exercise for 12 to 15 minutes.

Step 8: Practice this technique at least once a day, either in the morning to set yourself for the day ahead or at a time that is more convenient or beneficial to you.

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake“

Henry David Thoreau

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough.

Each moment is all we need, not more.”

Mother Teresa