Yoga cures Parkinson's disease

New hope for people with Parkinson's disease, yoga reduces the symptoms of this difficult disease to treat.

For the study, published in JAMA Neurology, researchers divided 138 patients with Parkinson's into two groups, one of whom participated in a yoga program focused on meditation, while the other received an exercise program that focused on stretching exercises and resistance training to improve movement and stabilize the state of health.

The study concluded that the effectiveness of yoga in improving the imbalance in motor functions was the same as the effectiveness of exercise.

However, those who practiced yoga had significantly lower symptoms of anxiety and depression, and their awareness of the difficulties involved in their illness. The patients participating in the yoga group also reported an improvement in their ability to carry out daily activities despite their illness.

"Before conducting the study, we knew that mental and physical exercises such as yoga and stretching improved the physical health of Parkinson's patients, but the benefit to their mental health was not known," said lead study author Jojo Kwok from the University of Hong Kong.

"This study concluded that yoga based on meditation relieves psychological problems and improves quality of life in addition to relieving motor symptoms," she added by email.

One disadvantage of the study, however, was that many of the participants did not finish the experiment. The researchers also noted that the results may differ with Parkinson's patients who suffer from more severe movement difficulties and were not included in the study.

Catherine Justice, a physiotherapist at Henben Health Care Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, warned that Parkinson's patients should be aware of the risks of falling and injury due to the positions they may take while practicing yoga.