IMR Press / FBE / Volume 13 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.2741/873

Frontiers in Bioscience-Elite (FBE) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 2 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review
Yoga and its impact on chronic inflammatory autoimmune arthritis
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1 Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
2 Department of Rheumatology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Send correspondence to: Rima Dada, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, Tel: 91-2654-3517, Fax: 91-11-2658-8663, E-mail: rima_dada@rediffmail.com
Front. Biosci. (Elite Ed) 2021, 13(1), 77–116; https://doi.org/10.2741/873
Published: 1 October 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The science of mind-body practices)
Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases, which adversely affects the quality of life. RA is a disease of unknown etiology, however, both genetic and environmental factors appear to contribute to the susceptibility to this disease. The severity and progression of the disease are attributable to the release of a host of inflammatory cytokines, cytotoxic and immune regulatory factors. The treatments of RA are primarily limited to symptomatic alleviation of pain or other symptoms or to the use of cytotoxic drug treatment in severe forms of the disease which is commonly associated with significant side effects. Despite lack of a cure, the disease may be controlled by mind-body interventions. Holistic treatments such as Yoga significantly improve and reduce the psycho-somatic symptoms, pain perception, disability quotient, joint flexibility, range of motion, posture, muscle strength, coordination, and disease activity. Here, we discuss the features of RA and address how Yoga can be used as a therapeutic regimen to improve the quality of life of patients with RA.

Keywords
Rheumatoid arthritis
Yoga
Inflammation
Oxidative stress
Immune-ageing
Immune-dysregulation
Review
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