YOGA REDUCES CYTOKINE LEVELS WHICH PROMOTE INFLAMMATION

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Jeffrey Newman

Regularly practicing yoga lowers a number of compounds in the blood and reduces inflmmation of both normal aging and stress, according to a major new study done at Ohio State. Women who regularly practice yoga lower the cytokine interleukin-6(IL6) which is an important part of the body’s imflammatory response and has been heavily implicated in heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and a host of age related disorders. The participants engaged in the yoga and were fitted with a catheter in one arm and blood samples were taken several times during during the sessions. Co-author Lisa Christian, Ass. Prof of Psychology Psychiatry and Obstetrics and Rob Glaser Professor of Molecular virology say that the results are clear but the reasons for the benefits of reduction in inflammation need to be understood.