dimanche 11 décembre 2011

Exercise Helps Memory in Fibromyalgia Patients

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Fibromyalgia patients who stopped taking medication and then exercised regularly for six weeks reported improved memory function and less pain, according to a small, new study.
While the finding is encouraging, it does not suggest a potential change in clinical care for fibromyalgia patients, the study authors stressed.
Senior author Dr. Brian Walitt, director of the Fibromyalgia Evaluation and Research Center at Georgetown University Medical Center, is scheduled to present the findings Sunday with co-researcher, Manish Khatiwada, at the Society of Neuroscience annual meeting, in Washington, D.C.

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is a disorder marked by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep and cognitive problems. It has no apparent cause and the pain is real, Walitt said, and likely originates from the central nervous system. It typically affects women more than men.

Exercise has long been recommended to fibromyalgia patients, and some find it improves their sense of well-being. “This is a first look at understanding how exercise alters memory performance,” Walitt said of the study.

Fibromyalgia and Exercise Study

For the trial, nine women received a baseline brain image called a functional MRI test. They were also given tests to assess their working memory and asked about their well-being and pain while on medication. The memory tests involved reading back a sequence of letters at various times after learning them.
Next, the women stopped their medication for a six-week ”washout” period. Then they had a second round of fMRIs and tests. Then they started a six-week supervised aerobic exercise program, consisting of three 30-minute sessions a week.
“When we took people off the medicine, they performed worse on the tests,” Walitt said. But, he added, “As they stayed off the medications for a period of time and exercised, their cognitive performance returned to normal levels [the same as at the start of the study],” he said.
The finding potentially suggests that exercise may lead to improvement in the network of brain areas that are recruited for working memory to function.
“In some ways it is concerning,” Walitt said. “One would have hoped that exercise would have made them better [at the memory test].”
Wallit isn’t sure what the findings might mean for real-life situations. “It may be if you have a more efficient brain, doing real-life tasks will be better.”
While more study is needed, Walitt said that “overall, exercise seems to be a beneficial thing for fibromyalgia patients, in terms of overall well-being. If you can exercise and make it work for you, that’s great.”
However, he noted, some people with the condition can’t tolerate exercise. Working out “is not going to be the answer for everybody and it’s not going to fix anybody,” he said.

Benefits of Group Fitness

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“The single biggest benefit is community,” said Tim Keightley, who oversees group fitness at Gold’s Gym, which has more than 600 locations around the world. “You meet a community of people so it’s a lot harder not to come back next week.”
Not only do group exercisers visit the gym more often, they are more likely to renew their memberships, according to Keightley, who said industry figures show that group exercisers use the gym about three times a week to the average gym member who goes 1.7 times.

“You throw on the music, you let someone decide the exercise for you,” he said. “It really allows people to escape, which you can’t do when you’re on a treadmill.”
Keightley said his teams put out a new schedule every month. “And two weeks into it they’re already evaluating to see what stays and what goes,” he said.
Thirty-minute workouts, military-style bootcamps, circuit training, and Zumba, the Latin-inspired dance fitness class, are currently what stays, according to Keightley, because they appeal to the 28-to-44-year-old professionals who are Gold’s core clientele.

Yoga for Back Pain Research

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The Yoga for back Pain research forces us to look more deeply into what Yoga actually is. Yoga is not just a form of meditation as some people perceive it and the benefits are not just limited to strengthening muscles, improve flexibility and balance. Yoga is an extremely good therapy for relieving back pain, shorten recovery time, reduce swelling and increase blood circulation. Practising yoga daily will help improve your posture and keep your spine in proper alignment.

There are many forms and poses of yoga and not all can help your back condition. In fact some can even worsen it. It is best to attend classes under the guidance of certified yoga instructors as they can advise on what poses are suitable for you.
Back strengthening poses serve not only to strengthen your muscles around the spine, but also help to activate your kidneys and increase the energy in your body. Back releasing poses will help to reduce tension and muscle spasm and improve spinal mobility. These exercises will help to nourish your back muscles and muscle tissues, and are good for people suffering from lower back pain. Stretching other muscles in your body such as the hamstring and thigh will make them stronger and more flexible and lessen the amount of stress on your back. This will finally reduce the tension and relieve your back.

Easier Way to do Yoga

Performing poses on the floor are easier than standing poses as they require less strength and balance. One very important aspect of doing yoga is to learn how to breathe properly, especially when holding the poses. Choose poses with longer hold times (inhaling and exhaling) as they are easier to do.
When you master the art of deep and rhythmic breathing, your body will relax, freeing you of pain-inducing restrictions and eases proper circulation.
Do not eat at least one to two hours before you practise yoga and refrain from drinking too much water before the session.
You should practise yoga daily for an average of 30 minutes, depending on your schedule, objective and fitness level. It is better to practise more often with shorter duration than less often with longer duration as this will produce better result.
If you are seeking relief from back pain, yoga is certainly one of the best lower back pain exercises. Like all forms of exercises, do not push your body to the limits. If you still experience pain after doing yoga, stop and consult your doctor.
Back Pain Treatment is a blog full of interesting information on back pain problems, treatment options and prevention tips. Visit this site for current events and stories relating to back pain and share your thoughts. So now that we have this interesting Yoga for back pain research it is time for you to learn to do Yoga
 

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