Advances in medical technology often segregate the mind, body and spirit. While this can help to narrow down a single medical issue, it often increases morbidity and mortality rates by ignoring underlying issues. Patients with chronic heart failure, or CHF, are often unknowing victims of medical technology that is indifferent to how emotions affect the heart through various chemical stress responses. Weekly yoga exercises that reunite the mind, heart and body are a great way to mediate this problem.
Anti-Inflammatory
Inflammation is an underlying cause of chronic heart failure that -- according to research published in "Heart Failure Reviews" in 2006 -- causes myocardial dysfunction and a domino effect of disease in other organs and tissues. Researchers blame the inflammatory response cytokine interleukin-6, or IL-6, with these negative effects. IL-6 is a protection device for cells that goes a little haywire during stressful times. Weekly yoga exercises have been found to lower IL-6 levels and inflammation.
Heart-Mind Connection
Countless studies on the relationship of yoga, inflammation and CHF pinpoint yoga's heart-mind approach as a dominant health-propeller. When patients with CHF practice yoga, increased positivity, energy and physical endurance result, says Dr. Bobby Khan of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. The biggest effect of yoga on CHF patients is its ability to expand the horizon of possibility by enhancing life quality, Khan adds. Researchers believe the heart-mind connection is a cornerstone in yoga though they are not sure exactly how it works.
Increased Exercise Tolerance
A typical yoga session is tailored to fit individual levels of exercise endurance. Patients with CHF can benefit from the physical elements of yoga that have breathing exercises as their foundational element. A 2008 issue of the "Journal of Cardiac Failure" reported that after eight weeks of implementing yoga into their daily regimens, heart failure patients experienced increased exercise tolerance, decreased inflammation and an overall higher quality of life. These improvements were significantly higher than therapies that utilized medical therapy alone.
References
- Psych Central: Heart Disease: The Mind-Body Connection
- ABC News: Yoga May Help Heart Failure Patients
- ScienceDaily.com: Yoga Reduces Cytokine Levels Known to Promote Inflammation
- "Journal of Cardiac Failure"; Georgia State University; P. R. Pullen, et al.; 2008
- "Heart Failure Reviews"; University of Oslo; A. Yndestad, et al.; 2006
