Yoga Could Help Stroke Rehabilitation, Study Suggests

Huffingtonpost.com: June 3, 2012.

Yoga may be a powerful tool in stroke rehabilitation, according to new research.

The study, presented as two separate analyses at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, shows that spending eight weeks in an adapted yoga program helped stroke survivors to have greater balance, be more flexible, be stronger and have more endurance and strength.

The first analysis examined the physical benefits of yoga for people who had suffered a stroke. The researcher of that study — Arlene Schmid, rehabilitation research scientist at the Roudebush VA Medical Center — found that yoga likely helped increase strength, endurance and flexibility because it helped neuromuscular control.

And in the second analysis, study researcher Tracy Dierks found that yoga seemed to help the stroke patients to take longer steps and faster initial gait speeds, although they were unable to sustain a fast gait for the entire six minutes of the test. Dierks is an associate professor of physical therapy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Read more