Yoga therapy is useful in treating PTSD

Doctor with female patient

Many suffer from the anxiety disorder known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although there are pharmaceutical medications that can help these patients, many seek alternative drug-free treatment for a variety of reasons.

For thousands of years Yoga therapy has been a useful Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapy in the treatment of anxiety and a recent research study has shown its effectiveness in treating PTSD. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is one of the world’s leading authorities on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Yoga, one of the top ten most widely practiced forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the US. It includes: breathing exercises, asanas, relaxation and mindfulness.

A randomised controlled trial was conducted by van der Kolk et al in 2014 on PTSD. The trial participants suffered with chronic PTSD and were unresponsive to prior PTSD treatment. All participants were female and aged 18-58 years old. In total 64 patients were recruited and were divided into two groups. One group received trauma informed yoga and the other group received educated classes. Each session lasted one hour and 10 sessions were given, one per week (total 10 weeks).

The Yoga Group reported reduced dissociative symptoms, approaching statistical significance. Statistically significant decreases in affect dysregulation and increases in tension reduction activities were also reported by the Yoga Group.

This again highlights the use of incorporating integrative healthcare solutions to combat common stress disorders and the value of exercise lifestyle advice such as Yoga; as reflected by the researchers conclusion; ‘It urges us to expand our more traditional “toolkits” and to embrace the mind-body integration that should help lead to better treatment outcomes and safer communities’.

Can Yoga Help Fibromylagia Sufferers?

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic rheumatic condition whereby an individual suffers from musculoskeletal pain, hypocortisolism and fatigue. Furthermore, an individual can develop depression as a consequence of FM. Around 90% of sufferers are women. Many practitioners of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) advocate Yoga therapy as an important component of lifestyle advice for Fibromylagia.

A 2011 Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) study examined the effect yoga has on pain, psychological variables, cortisol and mindfulness in women prior and after yoga intervention.

During this 8-week study, 22 females took part in 16, 75-minute yoga classes. Prior, during and post-intervention the women were given questionnaires to determine the levels of pain, anxiety, depression and mindfulness. In addition, cortisol levels were measured by collecting salivary samples three times a day prior, and post intervention.

The study concluded that yoga may have the ability to cause a decline in pain and catastrophizing. Similarly, yoga has shown to demonstrate its ability to cause an incline in acceptance, mindfulness and alter levels of cortisol in women with FM; this is a common integrative healthcare solution protocol for FM.. The researchers concluded, ‘The changes in mindfulness and cortisol levels may provide preliminary evidence for mechanisms of a yoga program for women with FM. Future studies should use an RCT design with a larger sample size’.

Yoga can be of use in helping Fibromylagia sufferers. The best advice one can give is that it is important that one uses a specialised ’yoga therapy’ program where only certain asanas are used i.e. aanas that relieve the pain in the specific areas, by increasing the affected prana/chi to balance the energy in the area. Best practice integrative healthcare solutions would also include meditation, appropriate diet and the use of herbal therapy.

Why Teenagers should eat their Broccoli

Individuals suffering from psychiatric diseases often have accompanying cognitive impairment. Examples of psychiatric diseases include; schizophrenia, autism, major depression, generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress and bipolar.

Several studies (including Carrión et al 2011) conducted on young adults and adolescents who were deemed to be at risk for psychosis showed the presence of cognitive impairment prior to the onset of psychotic symptoms. These findings indicate that early intervention can prevent the onset of psychosis during adulthood.

So is there any food and nutrition advice that can help prevent the onset of these symptoms. As children we were often told “Eat your broccoli!” This green vegetable has many reputed health benefits; see smartphone health app Apple A Day RX.

Cruciferous vegetables including broccoli contain sulforaphane (SFN) which an isothiocyanate. SFN is regarded to be a potent activator of Nrf2 transcription factor. The neuroprotective functions of Nrf2 have been well documented.

A key finding from a 2015 reserach study by Sirai et al indicated that consumption of glucoraphanin (a precursor of SFN) in juvenile and adolescence mice prevented the onset of PCP-induced cognitive deficits as well as the increase in 8-oxo-dG-positive cells and the decrease in PV-positive cells in the brain at adulthood.

Further analysis of NRF2 and KEAP1 genes was conducted with 183 patients with schizophrenia and 385 healthy subjects. The analysis by Sirai’s team concluded that there is a biological interaction between the NRF2 and KEAP1 proteins.

These findings suggest that the Keap1—Nrf2 system may play a role in the cognitive impairment that is observed in schizophrenia. The possibility arises that SFN, an activator of Nrf2, may have preventive and/or therapeutic effects on cognitive impairment in patients with psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and therefore it follows that ‘SFN’ may also be a viable therapeutic target.

The smartphone health app Apple A Day RX provides many examples of food and nutrition advice for many common ailments. This latest 2015 research study indicates that dietary intake of SFN-rich broccoli sprouts during the juvenile and adolescence may prevent the onset of psychosis at adulthood.