Publications by authors named "Sumana Venugopal"
Article Synopsis
- Opioid dependence syndrome (ODS) is a long-term condition that significantly impacts one’s life and can increase the risk of death; traditional treatments often struggle with low retention rates and potential for misuse.
- Adding yoga to conventional ODS treatment showed positive outcomes in a case study, with improvements in clinical symptoms and a decrease in the need for Buprenorphine over 9 months.
- Additionally, there was a notable rise in plasma beta-endorphin levels, indicating a potential therapeutic benefit of yoga in enhancing natural pain relief mechanisms.
Context: Opioid use disorder (OUD) involves excessive use of opioids-such as heroin, morphine, fentanyl, codeine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone-leading to major health, social, and economic consequences. Yoga lifestyle interventions have been found to be useful as adjunct therapies in management of substance use disorders and chronic pain conditions.
Objective: The research team intended to develop, validate, and test for feasibility a yoga program for OUD patients that could reduce opiate withdrawal symptoms-such as pain, fatigue, low mood, anxiety and sleep disturbances-and cravings associated with drugs.