Yoga, aquatic exercises help immensely in fighting multiple sclerosis

It’s a known fact that physical activities can help us keep fit and away from a lot of health problems. Of all yoga can prove to be of immense help when it comes to treating fatigue, depression and paresthesia.

According to a new study, yoga and aquatic exercises can help fight multiple sclerosis (MS) a chronic progressive auto-immune disease in which the body's own immune system attacks the nervous tissue, potentially resulting in movement disorders.

“Exercise training programmes should be considered in the future as possible complements to standard MS treatments,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

The team of researchers analysed 54 women with MS with an average age of 34 and were assigned to one of three groups: yoga, aquatic exercise or no exercise. Patients were asked to fill up a questionnaire before and after the trial.

The results showed that symptoms of fatigue, depression and paresthesia were significantly reduced in patients who took part in a three-times weekly training programme as compared to those who didn’t.

This study was conducted by the researchers from Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in Iran, the Psychiatric University Clinics and the University of Basel in Switzerland.