Yoga is best for back pain sufferers
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 440.
New research from America suggests that yoga could help millions of people who have back problems. In an article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that yoga was a better treatment for back pain than standard therapy. A study in Washington State saw 101 adults follow a choice of 12-week treatments. They chose between a course in yoga, standard therapeutic exercise or following instructions in a self-help book. The results showed yoga reduced pain more quickly and had longer lasting benefits. Dr. Karen Sherman said this was because of “mind and body effects”.
The article states that most treatments for backaches do not provide much pain relief and that exercise is one of the best therapies. However, the researchers say the effects of exercise are often small. They suggest that yoga, which combines physical exercise with breathing, “may benefit patients with back pain simply because it involves exercise or because of its effects on mental focus”. They conducted their study because they found no published articles in western medical books that evaluated yoga for chronic low back pain. Millions of people worldwide practice yoga every day.
1. YOGA OPINIONS: Ask your partner(s) if they agree with these opinions:
Yoga will become a very common treatment in hospitals around the world.
Yoga classes should be taught to children in schools.
Yoga is only for vegetarians and peace campaigners.
We have a lot to learn about yoga and other ancient therapies.
Yoga looks really boring.
I don't want to waste 30 minutes of my day in the lotus position.
I'll wait for more proof from scientists that yoga works.
All the people I know who do yoga are very relaxed and happy.
2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article's headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
| a. | Yoga is millions of years old. | T / F |
| b. | A study says yoga is better for back pain than standard therapy. | T / F |
| c. | Adults chose between yoga and a self-help book in a back-pain study. | T / F |
| d. | A doctor said “mind and body effects” help bring pain relief. | T / F |
| e. | Exercise is amazingly effective in providing pain relief. | T / F |
| f. | Yoga combines physical exercise with breathing. | T / F |
| g. | Western medical books are full of articles about yoga and back pain. | T / F |
| h. | Billions of people do yoga every day. | T / F |
3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
| a. | suggests | regular |
| b. | found | do |
| c. | standard | how-to |
| d. | self-help | says |
| e. | reduced | carried out |
| f. | states | indicates |
| g. | provide | severe |
| h. | conducted | give |
| i. | chronic | lessened |
| j. | practice | discovered |
4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
| a. | research from America suggests that | and had longer lasting benefits |
| b. | yoga was a better treatment for | of 12-week treatments |
| c. | follow a choice | of exercise are often small |
| d. | following instructions | do not provide much pain relief |
| e. | yoga reduced pain more quickly | physical exercise with breathing |
| f. | most treatments for backaches | yoga could help millions of people |
| g. | exercise is one | practice yoga every day |
| h. | researchers say the effects | in a self-help book |
| i. | yoga, which combines | back pain than standard therapy |
| j. | Millions of people worldwide | of the best therapies |
5. QUESTIONS: Answer the following questions:
a. Did you like reading this article?
b. What do you think about what you read?
c. Do you often suffer from aches and pains?
d. Are you good at knowing what to do for aches and pains?
e. Which is worse, an ache or a pain?
f. Would you rather suffer from physical or mental pain?
g. Do you think focusing your mind on your body can help reduce pain?
h. Why do you think yoga isn't more accepted, especially as it is thousands of years old?
i. Do you think yoga is too slow to fit in today's fast-paced life?
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