Department of Radiology, Cathay General Hospital, No 280, Jen-Ai Road Sec 4, Taipei, 106 Taiwan, ROC.
Eur Spine J. 2011 Mar;20(3):408-13. doi: 10.1007/s00586-010-1547-y. Epub 2010 Aug 15.
The objective of the current study was to find out whether yoga practice was beneficial to the spine by comparing degenerative disc disease in the spines of long-time yoga practitioners and non-yoga practicing controls, using an objective measurement tool, magnetic resonance imaging. This matched case-control study comprised 18 yoga instructors with teaching experience of more than 10 years and 18 non-yoga practicing asymptomatic individuals randomly selected from a health checkup database. A validated grading scale was used to grade the condition of cervical and lumbar discs seen in magnetic resonance imaging of the spine, and the resulting data analyzed statistically. The mean number of years of yoga practice for the yoga group was 12.9 ± 7.5. The overall (cervical + lumbar) disc scores of the yoga group were significantly lower (indicating less degenerative disc disease) than those of the control group (P < 0.001). The scores for the cervical vertebral discs of the yoga group were also significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.001), while the lower scores for the yoga group in the lumbar group approached, but did not reach, statistical significance (P = 0.055). The scores for individual discs of yoga practitioners showed significantly less degenerative disease at three disc levels, C3/C4, L2/L3 and L3/L4 (P < 0.05). Magnetic resonance imaging showed that the group of long-term practitioners of yoga studied had significantly less degenerative disc disease than a matched control group.
本研究旨在通过磁共振成像（MRI）这一客观测量工具，比较长期瑜伽习练者与非瑜伽习练对照者脊柱的退行性椎间盘疾病，以明确瑜伽练习是否对脊柱有益。该病例对照研究纳入 18 名具有 10 年以上教学经验的瑜伽教练和 18 名从健康检查数据库中随机挑选的无症状非瑜伽习练对照者。采用经过验证的分级量表对脊柱 MRI 所见颈椎和腰椎间盘的情况进行分级，并对所得数据进行统计学分析。瑜伽组的平均瑜伽习练年限为 12.9±7.5 年。瑜伽组的整体（颈椎+腰椎）椎间盘评分明显低于对照组（表明退行性椎间盘疾病程度较轻）（P＜0.001）。瑜伽组颈椎椎间盘评分也明显低于对照组（P＜0.001），而瑜伽组腰椎间盘评分较低，但未达到统计学显著性（P=0.055）。瑜伽习练者各椎间盘的评分显示，在三个椎间盘水平（C3/C4、L2/L3 和 L3/L4）退行性疾病明显较轻（P＜0.05）。MRI 显示，研究中接受长期瑜伽习练的这组人群的退行性椎间盘疾病明显少于匹配对照组。
