Three months of yoga classes could help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) breathe easier, a small new study suggests.


Twenty-nine people with COPD were trained in yoga, meditation and relaxation techniques[1] twice a week for four weeks, and then one hour a week every two weeks over the next eight weeks. Their lung functioning, inflammation, quality of life and breathing were all evaluated at the beginning of the study, and then at the end of the 12 weeks.


Researchers found that there were improvements in all of these categories after the 12-week period.


"We found that yoga can be a simple, cost-effective method that can help improve quality of life in patients with COPD," study researcher Randeep Guleria, M.D., a professor and the head of the pulmonary medicine and sleep disorder department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said in a statement.


The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians[2] , and have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal; as such, they should be regarded as preliminary.


Currently, COPD is the third leading cause of death[3] in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association. Estimates show that nearly 13 million American adults had COPD in 2011. The condition -- which gets worse with time -- can trigger coughing, shortness of breath and mucus production, and is most often caused by smoking[4] .



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  • Doctors


    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/mindfulness-meditation-doctors_n_1456870.html" target="_hplink">Mindfulness meditation</a> could help doctors provide better care to their patients, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found.

    When doctors underwent mindfulness meditation training, they <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/mindfulness-meditation-doctors_n_1456870.html" target="_hplink">listened better</a> and were less judgmental at home and at work, according to the <em>Academic Medicine</em> study.




  • People With Rheumatoid Arthritis


    Practicing mindfulness meditation exercises could help people with the painful condition to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/mindfulness-meditation-rheumatoid-arthritis_n_1171685.html?1325055022&ref=health-news" target="_hplink">decrease their stress</a> and fatigue levels, according to a study from Oslo's Diakonhjemmet Hospital.

    In that study, published in the journal <em>Annals of Rheumatic Diseases</em>, the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/mindfulness-meditation-rheumatoid-arthritis_n_1171685.html?1325055022&ref=health-news" target="_hplink">goal of the mindfulness meditation</a> exercises was to help people concentrate on their own thoughts, experiences and pain in the moment, without actively trying to avoid them or judge them. The researchers found that people who did the exercises had lower stress and fatigue measurements than people who didn't partake in the meditation.




  • The Elderly


    Practicing mindfulness meditation could help decrease feelings of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/29/mindfulness-meditation-loneliness-elderly_n_1702112.html" target="_hplink">loneliness in the elderly</a>. The small study, published in the journal <em>Brain, Behavior & Immunity</em>, showed that undergoing an eight-week mindfulness meditation training program, as well as doing meditation exercises at home, was linked with lower feelings of loneliness <em>and</em> a reduction in the expression of genes known to be linked with inflammation.

    This finding is important because, among the elderly, loneliness is known to increase the risk for a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/29/mindfulness-meditation-loneliness-elderly_n_1702112.html" target="_hplink">number of other health problems</a> -- including heart risks and even a premature death.




  • Stroke Survivors


    Practicing yoga for eight weeks helped stroke survivors to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/yoga-stroke-balance-survivors-patients-_n_1724580.html" target="_hplink">improve their balance</a> in a study published in the journal <em>Stroke</em>.

    Improving balance among stroke patients is important for reducing the risk of falls. People who had balance problems, or feelings of dizziness and/or spinning, were five times more likely to fall than those without balance issues, according to an earlier 2003 study in <em>Stroke</em>.

    And in other research, presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine this year and conducted by the same researchers as the balance study, they found that yoga helped stroke survivors to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/03/yoga-stroke-rehabilitation_n_1563208.html" target="_hplink">be more flexible</a>, be stronger, and have more endurance and strength.




  • Caregivers


    It's not just people with an ailment who can benefit from yoga -- people <em>caring</em> for the sick can be helped, too. A study in the <em>International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry</em> found that caregivers who participate in meditation have <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/13/yoga-caregivers-meditation-kirtan-kriya_n_1342389.html" target="_hplink">decreased symptoms of depression</a> and even a decrease in cellular aging from stress.




  • Inmates


    The Washoe County Sheriff's Office in Reno, Nevada, is offering <a href="http://www.foxreno.com/news/news/local/yoga-classes-offered-jail-women-prisoners/nP6kq/" target="_hplink">yoga to female prisoners</a> to help them with anger and stress issues, Fox Reno reported.

    The twice-a-month classes are taught by volunteers, and are part of the Alternatives to Incarceration Unit's Women's Empowerment Program, according to Fox Reno.




  • Teachers


    Meditation could be the key to <a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/0329/an-om-a-day-keeps-teachers-stress-away.aspx?xid=tw_everydayhealth_hootsuite" target="_hplink">minimizing stress for busy teachers</a>, according to a study from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

    The findings, published in the journal <em>Emotion</em>, showed that undergoing eight weeks of meditation helped to lower anxiety and depression, also, in the teachers, Everyday Health reported.