interventions on depressive disorders. Variation in interventions, severity and reporting
of trial methodology suggests that the findings must be interpreted with caution.
Several of the interventions may not be feasible in those with reduced or impaired
mobility. Nevertheless, further investigation of yoga as a therapeutic intervention is
warranted.”^9
In 2007, a team from Harvard and Boston University led by Chris Streeter, M.D. (of B.U.),
conducted a pilot “open-label” study of eight experienced yoga practitioners practicing
the Ashtanga, Bikram, Iyengar, Kripalu, Kundalini, Power and Vinyasa forms of yoga. The
yoga practitioners were evaluated against a group of 11 people who read popular
magazines and fiction. The control group experienced no changes on gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels (a neurotransmitter implicated in depression). In
contrast, the brains of the yoga practitioners showed an average GABA rise of 27%,
with more experienced practitioners showing greater rises, up to 80% in one case.^10
Streeter asserted: "I am quite sure that this is the first study that's shown that there's a
real, measurable change in a major neurotransmitter with a behavioral intervention
such as yoga.”^11
The ABC news article quoting Streeter demonstrates the controversy about the
importance of GABA, which is seen by some as a minor neurotransmitter compared to
dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (noradrenaline), epinephrine (adrenalin), histamine or
serotonin. This concern is answered by Streeter, Gerbarg, Saper, Ciraulo & Brown, in the
review cited in endnote 5.
The Streeter and colleagues study is cited with approval in Broad’s 2012 book, The
Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards.^12 Broad stresses that despite the lack of
randomized, double-blind studies, “Many people have looked to their own experience
on such matters and found that, overall, yoga lifts their emotional life.”^13
Amy Weintraub’s book, Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve
Suffering through Yoga (Norton, New York 2012), is recommended by Brown, Gerbarg
and Broad, and may be consulted for specific yoga techniques helpful in coping with
depression.^14
sharon
(sharon)
#1