Study briefs, 1/17: Yoga may relieve back pain better than other exercise

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By The Washington Post

Treating aches in the lower back can be perplexing, with the most common strategies — medication and exercise — producing mixed results for many people. Might yoga, which millions of Americans practice to soothe the spirit and become more fit, offer a viable alternative?

THIS STUDY randomly assigned 101 adults with chronic low back pain to participate in yoga or standard exercise classes or to be given a book detailing self-care strategies for back pain. Yoga participants learned simple, gentle postures; exercisers did a combination of aerobic, strengthening and stretching movements. Both groups attended 75-minute classes weekly and were asked to practice daily at home. After about three months of classes, those in the yoga group reported greater improvement in back functioning than the others, using standardized pain scales. Three months later, the yoga and exercise groups rated their back functioning about the same, but 21 percent of the yoga group, compared with 50 percent of the exercisers and 59 percent of the book group, were using pain medication.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? People with low back pain, which afflicts nearly everyone at some point but tends to affect middle-aged people the most, often because of too little or too much exercise.

CAVEATS Findings were based on the participants’ assessments of their pain. A different yoga regimen may yield different results, and certain yoga positions could be inappropriate for people with low back pain.

FIND THIS STUDY Dec. 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine; abstract available online at www.annals.org.

LEARN MORE ABOUT low back pain at www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain and www.neurosurgerytoday.org.

Increased insulin dosing seems to curb risk of heart problems

THE QUESTION Giving higher-than-normal doses of insulin to people with type 1 diabetes has been shown to reduce their chances of developing the eye, kidney and nervous system problems associated with the disease. Might intensive treatment also lessen the risk of cardiovascular disease?

THIS STUDY examined medical data on 1,441 people with type 1 diabetes who had participated in a study on treatment methods and had been randomly assigned to either normal therapy (one or two daily insulin injections) or intensive therapy (three or more daily injections). When the study began, participants were 13 to 40 years old and free from cardiovascular disease. After about 17 years, 83 people had had 144 cardiovascular problems (including heart attack, stroke, angina and so-called “silent” heart attacks) or procedures (such as angioplasty and coronary artery bypass). People in the intensive treatment group were 42 percent less likely to have had a problem or procedure than those in the conventional treatment group; the chances of having one of the more serious problems were 57 percent lower.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Anyone with type 1 diabetes, which occurs when the body does not produce the insulin needed to regulate blood sugar levels. Of the 21 million Americans with diabetes, 5 to 10 percent of them have this form.

CAVEATS The number of cardiovascular problems was not great enough to determine risks for specific types of heart-related difficulties.

FIND THIS STUDY Dec. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine; abstract available online at www.nejm.org.

LEARN MORE ABOUT treating diabetes at www.diabetes.org and www.fda.gov/diabetes.

Frequently eating fish appears to slow memory loss in old age

THE QUESTION Intent on staying sharp as they age, many people adopt behaviors believed to help: exercising the mind, staying physically active and eating healthily. Does the amount of fish in the diet have an effect?

THIS STUDY analyzed dietary and medical data on 3,718 people aged 65 and older. Participants were given four standardized tests of cognition, and they were questioned periodically about the foods they ate. Over a six-year period, cognitive scores declined overall. Compared with those whose diets included no fish, scores dropped 10 percent more slowly for people who ate fish once a week and 13 percent more slowly for those who ate fish twice or more a week. The authors described this difference as equivalent to being three to four years younger.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Older people. About 15 percent of men and 11 percent of women over 65 have some degree of memory impairment, a common gauge of cognitive decline.

CAVEATS The study did not determine whether the benefit comes from the presence in fish of omega-3 fatty acids, which are key to brain development early in life.

FIND THIS STUDY December issue of the Archives of Neurology; abstract available online at www.archneurol.com .

LEARN MORE ABOUT memory loss with aging at http://familydoctor.org and www.niapublications.org (search for “forgetfulness”).