When the stress hormone cortisol is chronically elevated in your system, it breaks down bone, explains Lani Simpson, DC, a certified clinical (bone) densitometrist and host of the PBS show Stronger Bones, Longer Life. Yoga Eases Anxiety (Yes, This Affects Bone Health) The rationale is that alert people are less likely to slip on an ice patch or trip on a rug. “It makes you more present and focused,” says Rubenstein Fazzio. “Yoga improves your physical balance and flexibility, which means you’re less likely to fall and break something-and if you do start to fall, your agility may help you catch yourself,” says Lori Rubenstein Fazzio, DPT, yoga therapist and clinical director of the Yoga Therapy Rx Practicum at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and part-time faculty in LMU’s Master of Arts in Yoga Studies.Įqually important, yoga also enhances your mental balance. There’s also the vital role yoga plays in preventing fractures by building stability and agility. Additional research is needed to further explore the relationship between yoga and bone creation. This is relatively new thinking in the medical world. “There is strong evidence that young osteoblasts do respond pretty vigorously to the forces generated by muscles, which is likely to put off osteopenia and osteoporosis until later in life-if it were to appear at all,” says Fishman. These findings also applied to younger women with healthy skeletons. His 2015 study, published in Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, found that 80 percent of older participants, most of whom had osteoporosis or its precursor, osteopenia, who practiced 12 yoga poses (often modified) a day showed improved bone density in their spine and femurs. “The new research shows that yoga can outweigh the hormonal effects of age,” says Fishman. “You’re actually laying down new bone,” explains Fishman.ĭoctors previously believed that women’s ability to accrue new bone basically ended once they entered menopause, which is when levels of bone-protective estrogen and progesterone plummet. That opposition creates a force that physically stimulates osteoblasts, bone-making cells that initially live on the outside of the bone and turn into osteocytes, which are cells that become embedded within your bone. “When you hold a pose like Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose) or a twist, you’re opposing one group of muscles against another, like the quadriceps against the hamstrings or the gluteal muscles against the shoulder muscles, respectively,” says Fishman. Engaging Your Muscles Stimulates Bone Productionįor starters, each time you practice a pose, you potentially build new bone. If you practice yoga, you’re already protecting your bones in several ways. How Yoga for Osteoporosis Creates Strong Bones That means the best time to focus on increasing your bone mass reservoir is always now, says Loren Fishman, MD, a Columbia University physiatrist specializing in rehabilitative medicine who studied yoga under B.K.S. The reality is that by the time you hit the age when your skeleton becomes more brittle, it’s much more challenging, although not impossible, to build protective bone mass. This is likely due to women’s propensity to have smaller, thinner skeletal structure and the sharp decline in the production of estrogen-a female hormone that protects against bone loss-that accompanies menopause. Men can be afflicted by osteoporosis as well, although 80 percent of sufferers are female. Yet research suggests that practicing yoga can be surprisingly protective in preventing fractures and osteoporosis, a condition that will cause approximately 50 percent of women age 50 or older to experience related complications. You’ll also hear “improved flexibility” an “ relief from low back pain.” What you probably won’t hear? “I practice yoga for osteoporosis” or “strong bones.” “ Stress relief” and “spiritual growth” are common refrains. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!Īsk people what motivates them to practice yoga and you’ll hear an array of responses.
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