Influence of sports climbing and yoga on spasticity, cognitive function, mood and fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
Spasticity, cognitive impairment, depression and fatigue significantly reduce the quality of life in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. To find out whether nonpharmalogical treatment approaches can reduce these symptoms we investigated effects of sports climbing (SC) and yoga on spasticity, cognitive impairment, mood change and fatigue in MS patients. Sports climbing (SC) and yoga are aerobic physical activities comprised a series of stretching techniques, implementation of which demands body control and planning of complex movements.


METHODS
20 subjects with relapsing-remitting or progressive MS, 26-50 years of age, with EDSS<or=6 and EDSS pyramidal functions score (EDSSpyr)>2 were enrolled in a randomized prospective study. The participants were randomly divided into SC and yoga group. We evaluated spasticity, cognitive function, mood and fatigue before and after both programs, that lasted 10 weeks, with standardized assessment methods.


RESULTS
There were no significant improvements in spasticity after SC and yoga. In the SC group we found a 25% reduction (p=0.046) in EDSSpyr. There were no differences in executive function after the completion of both programs. There was a 17% increase in selective attention performance after yoga (p=0.005). SC reduced fatigue for 32.5% (p=0.015), while yoga had no effect. We found no significant impact of SC and yoga on mood.


CONCLUSIONS
Yoga and SC might improve some of the MS symptoms and should be considered in the future as possible complementary treatments.
Velikonja
Orjana
O
University of Ljubljana, Medical Faculty, Vrazov trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Curić
Katarina
K
Ozura
Ana
A
Jazbec
Sasa Sega
SS
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009051:Mountaineering / Q000502:physiology*; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology*; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010809:Physical Fitness; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015013:Yoga