A systematic review of the health effects of yoga for people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

BACKGROUND: Yoga is a mind-body practice that can elicit robust health and wellbeing effects for older adults. As a result, there is increased public and academic interest into the potential benefits of yoga for older people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. METHODS: Literature searches in five databases (CENTRAL, PubMed and EBSCOHost indexing CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection) were conducted from the databases' date of inception through to 4 September 2020 to identify pre-post single and multigroup studies of yoga-based interventions involving people with MCI or dementia. Effects on cognitive, mental, and physical health were evaluated, as was safety and study quality. RESULTS: Database searches identified 1431 articles. Of these, 10 unique studies met inclusion criteria (total 421 participants). Four studies each implemented Kundalini yoga and chair yoga, while two employed Hatha yoga. Most programs ran for 12 weeks (n = 5) and compared yoga to a control group (n = 5). Most studies reported improved cognition, mood, and balance. However, these effects were marred by the high risk of bias identified in all articles. Four studies assessed safety, with one instance of dizziness reported. CONCLUSIONS: In this emerging field, these studies show that yoga may be safe and beneficial for the wellbeing of people with MCI or dementia. More high quality randomised controlled trials are needed to improve the evidence-base and overcome the limitations of existing studies.

Effects of Cannabidiol on Exercise Physiology and Bioenergetics: A Randomised Controlled Pilot Trial.

BACKGROUND: Cannabidiol (CBD) has demonstrated anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anxiolytic and neuroprotective effects that have the potential to benefit athletes. This pilot study investigated the effects of acute, oral CBD treatment on physiological and psychological responses to aerobic exercise to determine its practical utility within the sporting context. METHODS: On two occasions, nine endurance-trained males (mean ± SD V̇O2max: 57.4 ± 4.0 mL·min-1·kg-1) ran for 60 min at a fixed intensity (70% V̇O2max) (RUN 1) before completing an incremental run to exhaustion (RUN 2). Participants received CBD (300 mg; oral) or placebo 1.5 h before exercise in a randomised, double-blind design. Respiratory gases (V̇O2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate (HR), blood glucose (BG) and lactate (BL) concentrations, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and pleasure-displeasure were measured at three timepoints (T1-3) during RUN 1. V̇O2max, RERmax, HRmax and time to exhaustion (TTE) were recorded during RUN 2. Venous blood was drawn at Baseline, Pre- and Post-RUN 1, Post-RUN 2 and 1 h Post-RUN 2. Data were synthesised using Cohen's dz effect sizes and 85% confidence intervals (CIs). Effects were considered worthy of further investigation if the 85% CI included ± 0.5 but not zero. RESULTS: CBD appeared to increase V̇O2 (T2: + 38 ± 48 mL·min-1, dz: 0.25-1.35), ratings of pleasure (T1: + 0.7 ± 0.9, dz: 0.22-1.32; T2: + 0.8 ± 1.1, dz: 0.17-1.25) and BL (T2: + 3.3 ± 6.4 mmol·L-1, dz: > 0.00-1.03) during RUN 1 compared to placebo. No differences in HR, RPE, BG or RER were observed between treatments. CBD appeared to increase V̇O2max (+ 119 ± 206 mL·min-1, dz: 0.06-1.10) and RERmax (+ 0.04 ± 0.05 dz: 0.24-1.34) during RUN 2 compared to placebo. No differences in TTE or HRmax were observed between treatments. Exercise increased serum interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1ß, tumour necrosis factor-α, lipopolysaccharide and myoglobin concentrations (i.e. Baseline vs. Post-RUN 1, Post-RUN 2 and/or 1-h Post-RUN 2, p's < 0.05). However, the changes were small, making it difficult to reliably evaluate the effect of CBD, where an effect appeared to be present. Plasma concentrations of the endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide (AEA), increased Post-RUN 1 and Post-RUN 2, relative to Baseline and Pre-RUN 1 (p's < 0.05). CBD appeared to reduce AEA concentrations Post-RUN 2, compared to placebo (- 0.95 ± 0.64 pmol·mL-1, dz: - 2.19, - 0.79). CONCLUSION: CBD appears to alter some key physiological and psychological responses to aerobic exercise without impairing performance. Larger studies are required to confirm and better understand these preliminary findings. Trial Registration This investigation was approved by the Sydney Local Health District's Human Research Ethics Committee (2020/ETH00226) and registered with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12620000941965).

Tai Chi for health and well-being: A bibliometric analysis of published clinical studies between 2010 and 2020.

The objective of this bibliometric review was to identify the volume, breadth, and characteristics of clinical studies evaluating Tai Chi published between January 2010 and January 2020. Five English and four Chinese language databases were searched. Following independent screening, 1018 eligible publications representing 987 studies were identified, which was a three-fold increase from the previous decade. Most common were randomized controlled trials (548/987, 55.5 %), followed by systematic reviews (157/987, 15.9 %), non-randomized controlled clinical studies (152/987, 15.4 %), case series (127/987, 12.9 %) and case reports (3/987, 0.3 %) that were conducted in China (730/987, 74.0 %), followed by the United States of America (123/987, 12.5 %) and South Korea (20/987, 2.0 %). Study participants were mostly in the adult (55.2 %) and/or older adult (72.0 %) age groups. The top ten diseases/conditions were hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, knee osteoarthritis, heart failure, depression, osteoporosis/osteopenia, breast cancer, coronary heart disease and insomnia. A quarter of the studies enrolled healthy participants to evaluate the effects of Tai Chi on health promotion/preservation, balance/falls, and physiological/biomechanical outcomes. Yang style Tai Chi was the most popular, followed by Chen and Sun style. Tai Chi was mostly commonly delivered face-to-face by a Tai Chi instructor in group settings for 60 min, three times a week, for 12 weeks. Most studies (93.8 %) reported at least one outcome in favor of Tai Chi. Adverse events were underreported (7.2 %). Over half fell short of expected intervention reporting standards, signalling the need for Tai Chi extensions to existing guidelines.