Bone Health and Yoga
by Lisa Longton
Did you know that bone loss normally begins at the age of 30? In the average population, 55% of people older than 50 years of age will have low bone density. Women are as likely to die from a hip fracture as from breast cancer. Men are more likely to have a hip fracture than prostate cancer. Yoga to the rescue!
I am excited to share the results of a study done on bone loss and yoga. The study was conducted by Dr. Loren Fishman and Ellen Saltonstall, who presented the results in March of 2009. All participants in the study had already been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia (a pre-cursor to osteoporosis). Participants were of an average age of 68. A bone density test was performed for each participant at the start of the two-year study as a baseline.
The control group made no changes, while the experimental group only performed ten minutes of yoga a day. They were given ten yoga poses, holding each pose for 20 to 30 seconds, with a 5 to 10 minute Savasana following the sequence.
After two years, another bone density test was performed. The control group showed a T-score loss of -.12 of the spine, and -.07 of the hip. The Yoga group showed an average T-score improvement of .69 of the spine, and .87 of the hip. (Bone Mineral Density is measured in T-scores, as provided by DEXA scans, as well as blood and urine tests).
We’ve all heard that impact exercises stimulate bone growth, but gravity is only second best to the action of muscles pulling on the bones. Yoga poses act on the bones by “applying forces of opposing muscle groups to them that greatly exceed gravity, stimulating bone cells (osteocytes) to create more bone.”
Dr. Fishman also said, “Yoga helps grow bone mass, but because yoga poses pull and stretch the bones from every conceivable angle, yoga also may stimulate the formation of a bone structure that is able to resist greater amounts of pressure, as well as many different types of challenges”. Dr. Fishman also found the bone stimulating effect began after only 12 seconds of holding a pose, and continued to increase until 72 seconds, after which there was no increase in effect.
In conclusion, yoga has been proven to be beneficial in stimulating bone growth, even in older patients already displaying bone density loss.
Doesn’t it make you want to get your Down Dog on?