#Yoga
Yoga was found to improve both mental and physical health in older adults with dementia in long-term care facilities. The potential of yoga as a supplemental therapy for a variety of medical problems, including neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, has attracted increasing attention in recent years. According to a recent study, yoga benefits older women who are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease in terms of their health and happiness. This article will examine the study’s conclusions and highlight the possible advantages of yoga for this at-risk group.
A group of older women aged 65 and over who were thought to be at risk of Alzheimer’s disease due to genetic predisposition or other risk factors participated in the study, which was carried out by a team of neuroscientists and geriatric specialists over a period of two years. The goal of the study was to determine whether regular yoga practice could slow the cognitive loss brought on by Alzheimer’s disease and enhance both general mental and physical health.
Methodology
The control group and the yoga intervention group were split up into two groups at random. While the control group carried on as usual with no special interventions, the yoga intervention group participated in three times per week in supervised yoga sessions.
The yoga sessions were guided by skilled yoga instructors and included a variety of relaxing positions, pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation, and relaxation techniques. Older people’s requirements and physical capabilities were taken into consideration when designing the program to ensure their safety and comfort throughout the exercise.
Health Benefits of Yoga for Older Women
Improvement in Cognitive Function: The yoga intervention group showed enhanced executive, memory, and attentional skills. Standardized cognitive tests that were given both before and after the trial were used to evaluate these improvements.
Stress Levels Reduced: Yoga is well renowned for its stress-relieving properties. Compared to the control group, participants in the yoga program reported lower levels of perceived stress, anxiety, and depression.
Improved Muscle Strength and Flexibility: Participants who practiced yoga regularly showed improvements in their participants’ flexibility and muscle strength. For older people, these enhancements are especially important since they can increase mobility and lower the risk of accidents and falls.
Better Sleep: After regularly practicing yoga, many individuals said their sleep quality had improved. A good night’s sleep is essential for overall health and helps lower the risk of cognitive impairment.
Social Support and Engagement: Yoga courses are group activities that encourage social interaction and a sense of community among participants, which lessens the isolation and loneliness that are frequently felt by older people.
Furthermore, Researchers from UCLA examined the effects of yoga on connections in subregions of the hippocampus, a crucial region of the brain for learning and memory, in comparison to the gold-standard method of memory enhancement training (MET). The research was overseen by psychiatrist Dr. Helen Lavretsky. MET is evolved from methods that use practical memory-improving techniques including verbal and visual association. The current study established the hippocampus’s connectivity in its resting state using sophisticated functional MRI. The researchers were able to assess different hippocampus subregions and compare the effects of yoga and memory training using this imaging, which is thought to be more sensitive to cognitive changes than hippocampal sizes.
According to their research, yoga “training may better target hippocampal subregion connectivity impacted by stress, which may aid in processing information, including facial information, into memory,” the authors wrote. They also speculated that the greater connectivity between the anterior and posterior hippocampal subregions with KY KK training than with MET “may suggest superior long-term neuroprotective benefits in terms of vulnerable hippocampal connections critical to memory.”
MET appears to be more effective than yoga in helping the hippocampus integrate data from many senses.
The many mnemonic approaches used in MET, such as verbal, visual, and spatial associative methods, all work to improve the integration of multimodal sensory information into memory functions. Accordingly, MET may outperform KY KK in terms of crucial hippocampus sensory integration for memory, which could enable more reliable memory, the study found.
Although the small study indicates that these types of yoga may be especially helpful for women who report feeling stressed and who have additional risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, the authors state that future, large-scale studies with a control arm or placebo group will be required to fully understand the positive effects of both yoga and MET on hippocampal connectivity and memory.
Conclusion
The study shows that yoga can be a beneficial and practical intervention for older women who are at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Yoga appears to have a favorable effect on cognitive health and general well-being since it combines exercise, mindfulness, and relaxation techniques.
The long-term effects of yoga on Alzheimer’s risk and development must be thoroughly established, which calls for additional research with larger sample numbers and longer study durations, even though the results are encouraging. Nevertheless, the study offers positive data for medical professionals and anyone looking for non-conventional ways to improve quality of life and brain health in aging populations.
As with any therapy strategy, it is best for senior citizens to speak with their doctors before beginning a new fitness program, like yoga, to make sure it fits with their unique health requirements and restrictions. Yoga might become an important weapon in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease and other aging-related cognitive diseases with further study and increased public awareness.
Source- HT
