Elderly-customized hatha yoga effects on the vascular inflammation factors of elderly women.
Sangsoo Kim, Sungbum Ju
PMID 29184273WHAT IT FOUND
Seven women aged 70 to 80 who did low-intensity hatha yoga for 10 weeks had higher albumin and lower fibrinogen, hs-CRP and ESR blood markers after the program.
Seven control women had no reported changes. Only seven were in each group.
Key findings
01In the yoga group, albumin increased and fibrinogen, hs-CRP, and ESR decreased after the program.
02White blood cell count did not change significantly in the yoga group, although it fell numerically.
03The control group showed no significant changes in vascular inflammation factors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 14 women were studied, seven in each group, so random variation could explain the changes. The paper does not state how participants were assigned to groups, whether outcomes were pre-specified, or whether assessors were blinded. The analysis compared each group with its own baseline, not the yoga group directly with the control group. The outcomes were blood inflammation markers, not patient-important function, symptoms, falls, cardiovascular events, or quality of life. The control group's activity during the 10 weeks is not described, so it is unclear what they did besides not doing the yoga program. The study lasted 10 weeks, so long-term effects are unknown.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that elderly-customized hatha yoga prevents cardiovascular disease or lowers inflammation in older women. The study had only 14 participants, did not describe assignment or blinding, and measured blood markers rather than clinical outcomes.