Yoga for Osteoporosis by Stephanie Cunningham

Changing the Face of Yoga Podcast

.yogalightness.com.au/Osteoporosis SN

Introduction to Osteoporosis: bones become fragile which leads to increased risk of fractures. May be due to bone mineral decreases or the failure of the microarchitecture.

2:54 Causes:

1. At menopause, the cells that destroy bone become more active than the cells that build bone. These are both natural processes but the balance is disturbed as the sex hormones decrease
2. In the later years of life 80+ the muscles and the bones become more fragile. Without the muscles pulling on the bones (and as they lose strength, this happens naturally), the bones also become weaker
3. Illness and drugs can also affect the bone density.

5:30 No symptoms there is a test called the DEXA test that measures bone density (but not bone microarchitecture) It tests three sites on the body: hip, vertebrae and wrist. Each site receives it’s own score.

1. Normal Score; men and women naturally lose bone density in their fifties but the loss is not enough to increase the risk of fracture
2. Osteopenia: there is bone loss in excess of normal bone loss and the risk of fracture is increased
3. Osteoporosis: there is significant bone loss and the risk of fracture is high.

Vertebral fractures can also lead to kyphosis which is 1) a risk factor for more vertebral fractures, it impacts breathing and balance.

9:59 Exercise, especially weight-bearing exercise, is recommended to move the muscles that then pull on the bones to signal the need for increased density.

Axial Skeleton – skull, vertebrae, ribs. Protects the core organs and gives structure to the trunk. Women lose more bone (as a percentage) from the axial skeleton than men do so they have an increased risk of vertebral fractures.

Need strong core muscles to protect the bones and to help with holding up the trunk.

11:35 Dr. Mersheed Sinaki, has done several studies on osteoporosis at the Mayo Clinic in the US. She recommends more than just weight-bearing exercise but also need to improve a) flexibility, b) core strength, c) cardiovascular fitness, d) axial strength, and e) gait steadiness (to prevent falls from loss of balance).

13:00 Yoga poses to strengthen the axial skeleton (primarily the vertebrae).

• Laying down: Gentle locust; laying on the stomach, lift the head (in line with the spine) and then release. After building strength with the previous pose, can then transition to clasping the hands behind the back, lifting the head and chest and pulling with the hands towards the feet. Another gentle pose would be to lay on back and lift head and then release,

• Standing: With one arm on a chair if needed, lift one arm above the head with the inhale and let it come down with the exhale. Do the other arm. With sufficient strength, can use weights or lift both arms up at the same time (with or without weights).

• Sitting: Bring arms to shoulder height; bend elbows so hand are pointing towards the ceiling and try to press the elbows together and then release. If the student cannot bring the arms to shoulder height, then place the arms along the side and bend the elbows and then press the elbows and release.

16:45 Appendicular Skeleton: limbs, hip and shoulder girdles. Breaks in hip are often at the neck of the femur which causes a fall. Hip fractures are highly correlated with death in older individuals so a hip fracture is quite dangerous. Wrist fractures often occur when trying to stop a fall. And falls increase fracture risk.

Yoga poses:

1. most standing poses (not Warrior I),
2. Downward dog (can be modified with chair or wall), and
3. balance poses.

19:34 Contraindicated poses

1. Inversions
2. seated twists, forward bends, bridge
3. Warrior I

24:30 With kyphosis, yoga can provide tools to help breathing. Need more space in the chest to allow the lungs to fully inflate.

25:25 New study correlates disturbed sleep with osteoporosis. Yoga Nidra is good for showing students how to relax and can be a tool to help them sleep at night. Or any relaxation tool used in savasana.

Research:

Yoga Vetebral Fractures & Osteoporosis: Research and Recommendations, Norlyk, E., Boses, A., International Journal of Yoga Therapy, No. 23 (1) 2013

Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation in Patients with Osteoporosis: Rehabilitation of Osteoporosis Program (ROPE), Sinaki, M., Journal für Mineralstoffwechsel & Muskuloskelettale Erkrankungen 2010

Yoga Spinal Flexion Positions an Vertebral Compression Fracture in Ostepenia and Osteoporosis of the Spine: Case Series Sinaki, M., MD, MS Clinical Report

https://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed 22449949

Impact of Sleep on Osteoporosis: Sleep quality is associated with bone stiffness index, Sasaki, N., Fujiwara, S., Yamashita, H., Ozono, R., Teramen, K., Kihara, Y.

Sleep Medicine 2016 Sept: 25: 73-77

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