Summary: Yoga can reduce pain and enhance mood for women suffering from a range of menstrual disorders, a new study reports.
Source: Mary Ann Liebert Inc.
A systematic review of the published literature on yoga practice and common menstrual disorders found that all of the studies evaluated reported a beneficial effect and reduced symptoms. The impact of a range of yoga interventions on menstrual distress associated with physical and psychological symptoms for premenstrual women are described in an article published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
Jennifer Oates, PhD, King’s College London, U.K., assessed the evidence from 15 published studies on the effects of yoga practice on problems such as amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Enhanced mood, reduced pain, increased wellbeing, and a heightened relaxation response were among the improved outcomes reported by women who participated in a yoga intervention, as reported in the article entitled “The Effect of Yoga on Menstrual Disorders: A Systematic Review.”
“While the heterogeneity of the studies presented the authors with limitations, patients can take solace that the studies uniformly found value regardless of the intensity and type of yoga intervention,” comments The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine Editor-in-Chief John Weeks, johnweeks-integrator.com, Seattle, WA.
Source: Saori Obayashi – Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to the American Museum of Natural History.
Original Research: Full open access research for “The Effect of Yoga on Menstrual Disorders: A Systematic Review” by Jennifer Oates in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Published online February 16 2017 doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0363
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Mary Ann Liebert Inc “Can Yoga Reduce Symptoms of Menstrual Disorder?.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 27 April 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/yoga-pms-6524/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Mary Ann Liebert Inc (2017, April 27). Can Yoga Reduce Symptoms of Menstrual Disorder?. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved April 27, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/yoga-pms-6524/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Mary Ann Liebert Inc “Can Yoga Reduce Symptoms of Menstrual Disorder?.” https://neurosciencenews.com/yoga-pms-6524/ (accessed April 27, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
The Effect of Yoga on Menstrual Disorders: A Systematic Review
Objective: To summarize and evaluate evidence for the effect of yoga on menstrual disorders.
Methods: PubMed, CINAHL/MEDLINE, Web of Science, AMED, and Scopus were searched for English-language literature relevant to the review question. All primary research studies were included.
Results: Fifteen studies described in 18 papers were included in the review. A range of yoga interventions were used. Some studies used a combination of Asana, Pranayama, and other yogic relaxation or meditation techniques. All included studies reported some change in their outcome measures, suggesting reduced symptoms of menstrual distress following a yoga intervention; however, the heterogeneity and intensity of the interventions and outcome measures meant that findings have limited generalizability and applicability in practice settings.
Conclusions: Further research on the relationship between yoga practice and menstrual disorders is warranted, but there must be both consistency in the methods, measures, and quality of studies and a shift toward research on yoga practices that are replicable outside of the clinical trial setting.
“The Effect of Yoga on Menstrual Disorders: A Systematic Review” by Jennifer Oates in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Published online February 16 2017 doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0363
