Yoga May Help Stroke Survivors Improve Balance, Indiana University Study

Group yoga can improve balance in stroke survivors who no longer receive rehabilitative care, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. In a small pilot study, researchers tested the potential benefits of yoga among chronic stroke survivors -- those whose stroke occurred more than six months earlier. "For people with chronic stroke, something like yoga in a group environment is cost effective and appears to improve motor function and balance," said Arlene Schmid, Ph.D., O.T.R., lead researcher and a rehabilitation research scientist at Roudebush Veterans Administration-Medical Center and Indiana University, Department of Occupational Therapy in Indianapolis, Ind.