A small Canadian study announced July 27 found that practicing yoga twice weekly for eight weeks reduced the symptoms of chronic pain and mental stress in women with fibromyalgia.
The study is the first to look at the effects of yoga on levels of the hormone cortisol in women suffering with fibromyalgia. The condition, which predominantly affects women, is associated with chronic pain and fatigue, and symptoms such as muscle stiffness, sleep disturbances, and depression.
Previous research has found that women with fibromyalgia have lower-than-average cortisol levels, which can contribute to pain, fatigue, and stress sensitivity, according to the researchers. In the new study, participants' saliva revealed enhanced cortisol levels following a program of 75 minutes of hatha yoga twice weekly over the course of eight weeks. Also patients reported significant reductions in their pain levels, as well as a mental boost from the yoga practice.
"Ideally, our cortisol levels peak about 30-40 minutes after we get up in the morning and decline throughout the day until we're ready to go to sleep," said the study's lead author, Kathryn Curtis, a PhD student at York University in Canada. "The secretion of the hormone, cortisol, is dysregulated in women with fibromyalgia."
The study, published in the Journal of Pain Research, and follows another published earlier this year that found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis who practiced yoga showed significant improvements in their symptoms.
