The team concluded that engaging in yoga may help individuals with heart failure cope with their disease and improve their stress management skills.
Engaging in yoga is something that nearly anyone can do, no matter what their state of health. In fact, individuals who are ill may reap some of the most tangible benefits from the holistic system. For instance, a recent report suggested that yoga may improve the wellness of people suffering from heart failure.
A study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found that African-American patients with congestive heart failure experienced physical improvements after taking several weeks' worth of yoga sessions.
Researchers addressed the regimen's effect on flexibility, quality of life and inflammatory molecular markers. Compared to individuals who were not given yoga-based interventions, patients who regularly stretched, posed and breathed deeply saw improvements in all of the above measures.
The team concluded that engaging in yoga may help individuals with heart failure cope with their disease and improve their stress management skills.
Heart failure occurs when the cardiac muscle cannot pump enough blood through the body, which is often due to congested arteries. An estimated 5.7 million Americans have heart failure in a given year, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.
