Yoga may help in reducing hot flashes and night sweats among women going through menopause, and it also appears to sharpen their cognitive functions. Yoga encourages relaxation and muscle control, and helps reduce the adverse effects of psychological stress and strain. To assess the benefits yoga offers for women going through menopause, researchers from India randomly assigned 120 menopausal women, aged between 40 and 55 years, to yoga practice or simple stretching and strengthening exercises five days a week for eight weeks. Women in the yoga group also listened to lectures on using yoga to manage stress and other yoga-related topics, while those in the control group heard lectures on diet, exercise, the physiology of menopause, and stress. After eight weeks, it was found that women in the yoga group showed a significant reduction in hot flashes, night sweats, and sleep disturbances, while the women in the control group did not. Both groups showed improvements in a test of attention and concentration, although improvement in the yoga group was significantly greater. In a test of memory and intelligence with 10 components, the yoga group improved on eight, while the control group improved on six. The above findings establish that efficacy of yoga over physical activity in improving the cognitive functions that could be attributed to emphasis on correctness in breathing, synchronizing breathing with body movements, relaxation and mindful rest.
BJOG
August 2008