User:Oka6/sandbox

Article Evaluations

 * Yoga as Exercise (Yoga as exercise)
 * This article provides a brief overview of the physical and mental benefits of yoga
 * The title "Yoga as Exercise" may not be the best fitting title; consider "Yoga for Health"
 * Evidence presented by the article reveals both sides of the findings and doesn't veer heavily toward any findings
 * Links to citations work
 * Talk page of article lists some useful possible rearrangements and an additional source for consideration

Possible articles to improve
The health benefits of yoga is a research question that has been gaining popularity for various reasons. It is one of the oldest-practiced art forms and research has been underway to discover the "tangible" scientific effects of sustained practice.


 * Hot yoga is a Western rendition of traditional yoga, in which yoga is performed under hot/humid conditions in order to mimic weather conditions in India, the birthplace of yoga. It would be interesting to explore the additional benefit that heat is thought to add to this form of physical activity.
 * Bikram Yoga is a type of hot yoga that consists of 26 specific postures and 2 breathing exercises. It would be interesting to examine the health function of a few select poses out of the 26.

Reflist

 * Bridges, L., & Sharma, M. (2017). The Efficacy of Yoga as a Form of Treatment for Depression. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine,22(4), 1017-1028. doi:10.1177/2156587217715927
 * Manincor, M., Bensoussan, A., Smith, C. A., Barr, K., Schweickle, M., Donoghoe, L., & ... de Manincor, M. (2016). INDIVIDUALIZED YOGA FOR REDUCING DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, AND IMPROVING WELL-BEING: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269), 33(9), 816-828. doi:10.1002/da.2250
 * Muzik M, Hamilton SE, Lisa Rosenblum K, Waxler E, Hadi Z. Mindfulness yoga during pregnancy for psychiatrically at-risk women: preliminary results from a pilot feasibility study. Com- plement Ther Clin Pract. 2012;18:235-240.
 * Tekur P, Nagarathna R, Chametcha S, Hankey A, Nagendra HR. A comprehensive yoga programs improves pain, anxiety and depression in chronic low back pain patients more than exercise: an RCT. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2012;20:107-118.

Annotated Bibliography
'''Jayasinghe, S. (2004). Yoga in cardiac health (a review). European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 11, 5, p. 369-375.''' Conventional exercise, particularly moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, is known as being very beneficial in primary and secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease. There is also increasing evidence to support the idea that forms of exercise from the East, such as yoga, are beneficial to management of ischemic heart disease. 13 studies were listed and reviewed for this study attested to the effectiveness of yoga in: (a) controlling blood pressure of hypertensive subjects; (b) significantly reducing BMI, total serum, and LDL cholesterol, and fibrinogen in those with elevated levels; (c) reduction in frequency of hyperglycemia; (d) plaque-stabilizing effects slow progression of coronary atherosclerosis; and (e) facilitating recovery after myocardial infarction. In conclusion, yoga possesses great mental and physical value.

'''Thirthalli, J., Naveen, G. H., Rao, M. G., Varambally, S., Christopher, R., & Gangadhar, B. N. (2013). Cortisol and antidepressant effects of yoga. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(Suppl 3), S405–S408. http://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.116315''' Hypercortisolemia is well known in depression and yoga has been demonstrated to reduce the parameters of stress by reducing cortisol levels. This study aimed to find the role of yoga as an antidepressant and its function in lowering cortisol levels. Patients were offered yoga as possible antidepressant therapy in addition to antidepressant drugs and rated them on the basis of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and serum cortisol measurements. The results showed that serum cortisol was higher in depressives than controls. Overall, cortisol levels dropped however more patients in the yoga groups experienced the drop in cortisol levels. In addition, the cortisol drop correlated with a drop in HDRS score in the yoga group, suggesting an antidepressant effect. In conclusion, the findings support that yoga may act at the level of the hypothalamus because of its stress-reducing actions to promote relief during depression.

'''Ross, A., & Thomas, S. (2010). The health benefits of yoga and exercise: a review of comparison studies. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine, 16 1, 3-12.''' This study aimed to cohesively combine the growing body of evidence that supports the belief that yoga benefits physical and mental health through regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system. Researchers found that in the 12 studies that compared the effects of yoga and exercise, yoga interventions yielded positive results in both healthy and diseased groups. This suggests that overall, yoga interventions appeared to be equal or superior to exercise in almost every outcome measured. However, it is possible that these differences in fitness outcomes may not have been found if exercises were compared to yoga with varying degrees of vigor. In conclusion, yoga is another form of fitness that is effective, feasible, and an acceptable alternative to exercise in heart disease populations and related groups (ie. people that are obese, diabetic, etc.).

'''Watts, A. W., Rydell, S. A., Eisenberg, M. E., Laska, M. N., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2018). Yoga’s potential for promoting healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among young adults: A mixed-methods study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,15(1). doi:10.1186/s12966-018-0674-4''' This cross-sectional, mixed methods study used secondary data from a population-based cohort study in Minneapolis which used a food frequency questionnaire and self-reported yoga practice. Researchers found that young adult yoga practitioners significantly reported healthier eating behaviors and higher levels of physical activity than non-practitioners. They also reported fewer instances of stress-eating and other emotion-driven eating. In overweight young adults, yoga practice was negatively associated with snack food consumption. Practitioners experienced more motivation to make healthy choices that related more to nourishment and their state of mind, as opposed to conventional social concepts of healthy versus unhealthy. In conclusion, yoga shows potential as an intervention to promote weight-related health in young adults through healthier eating patterns and physical activity.

Final Assignment
“Health”, by definition, has 3 components: physical, mental, and social. Yoga is able to positively impact all of those components by combining physical movement with breathing exercises, meditation, and consciousness. Yoga originated in India and its health impacts were well known among Indian practitioners for centuries. The practice arrived in the West relatively recently in the 20th century. In the West, research on the tangible health effects of yoga has been ongoing and overwhelmingly positive. Yoga is now classified as a form of complementary alternative medicine to make its tangible health benefits formally known.

Yoga as a form of low-intensity physical activity, is also an alternative to conventional forms of exercise, such as vigorous aerobic activity. It is suited for people of all groups, but poses a more accessible alternative for people that are overweight. A study found that yoga interventions appeared to be equal or superior to exercise in almost every outcome measured, establishing the practice as another form of fitness that is effective, feasible, and an acceptable alternative to exercise in heart disease populations and related groups (ie. people that are obese, diabetic, etc.).

Several studies have been conducted to test the effects of consistent yoga practice on human physiology. The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology published a study that reviewed 13 related studies looking at the effectiveness of yoga. The findings showed that yoga practice is effective in: (a) controlling blood pressure of hypertensive subjects; (b) significantly reducing BMI, total serum, and LDL cholesterol, and fibrinogen in those with elevated levels; (c) reducing frequency of hyperglycemia; (d) plaque-stabilizing effects slow progression of coronary atherosclerosis; and (e) facilitating recovery after myocardial infarction. Another cross-sectional study found that young adult yoga practitioners significantly reported healthier eating behaviors and higher levels of physical activity than non-practitioners. They also reported fewer instances of stress-eating and other emotion-driven eating. In overweight young adults, yoga practice was negatively associated with snack food consumption. Practitioners experienced more motivation to make healthy choices that related more to nourishment and their state of mind, as opposed to conventional social concepts of healthy versus unhealthy.

Lastly, the mental benefits of yoga are broader than individual dietary self control. An experimental study by Thirthalli et al. tested the effects of yoga as an antidepressant in depressive populations. Researchers found that cortisol levels dropped overall, however more patients in the yoga groups experienced the drop in cortisol levels. In addition, the cortisol drop correlated with a drop in HDRS score in the yoga group, suggesting an antidepressant effect. These findings suggest that yoga may act at the level of the hypothalamus because of its stress-reducing actions to promote relief during depression. In conclusion, yoga possesses great value to mental and physical well-being.