Yoga brings 'significant' changes in inflammatory markers of arthritis patients: AIIMS doctors

One hour of yoga session daily reduces pain in rheumatoid arthritis patients to a large extent by switching on a set of gene systems for countering such pains, Indian medical researchers have shown in a new study, suggesting use of yoga as an adjunct therapy for chronic patients.

The ancient breathing, exercise and meditation practices stimulate a number of genes, which in turn launches a series of cascading actions to lower the level of body chemicals responsible for causing joint pain, say researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, who demonstrated the benefits on patients.

From the rheumatology department OPD at AIIMS, the doctors selected the patients who agreed to do the yoga following the advice of a trained instructor. The yogic postures were identified in such a manner so that the hour-long session didn't hurt the patients’ already inflamed joints.

“In our study, the participants practised yoga for one hour for five days in a week, but even 30 min of yoga daily will be beneficial. Yoga should be a daily habit like the brushing of teeth,” Rima Dada, corresponding author of the study and a senior doctor at AIIMS told DH.

The AIIMS team selected 64 patients who were divided into two groups of 32 each. One group received the standard therapy while the second one underwent the daily yoga session for eight weeks apart from the standard treatment.

The yoga sessions include physical exercises (Asana), deep breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation (dhyana).

“Our study highlights that yoga possesses an immune modulatory potential. It reduces rheumatoid arthritis severity, and aids in immune modulation and hence can be beneficial as an adjunct therapy,” they reported in a recent issue of Scientific Reports.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of multifactorial origin that develops due to unfavourable coincidence of genetic, immune, and environmental factors. The severe joint pain occurs because the body's own immune system attacks other cells.

But after two months of yoga, when the AIIMS team measured the levels of different body chemicals, they found a drop in the level of proteins that trigger such pains and a better balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors in the body.

The researchers found significant changes in various inflammatory markers after 8-weeks of intervention in the yoga group as compared to the non-yoga group. Also yoga lowered the rate of immunological ageing in T-cells, responsible for immunity.

“We found that eight weeks of yoga practice significantly reduced disease activity, normalised the biomarkers associated with inflammation, and maintained the T-cell balance,” they reported.

While there are past studies to establish yoga’s link with multiple health benefits, the AIIMS researchers claimed that their work was the first one to highlight the positive effects of yoga on T-cells and its benefit on rheumatoid arthritis patients.

“Other benefits of yoga include a rise in the level of serotonin that reduces depression in people and better regulation of circadian rhythm,” noted Dada.