ABC World News Tonight (6/19, story 12, 0:15, Muir) reported on a new study “revealing that yoga is equal to physical therapy when it comes to relieving pain in your lower back.” The findings were published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
On the CBS Evening News (6/19, story 10, 1:55, Mason), medical correspondent Jon LaPook, MD, was shown saying, “In the study, 320 adults with moderate-to-severe back pain received one of three approaches over 12 weeks – weekly yoga classes, 15 physical therapy visits, or education about how to cope with back pain.” The study found that not only was yoga “just as effective as physical therapy,” but also that “both groups were about 20 percent less likely to use pain medication than patients receiving education alone.”
In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (6/19, Searing) reports on some caveats pertaining to the study. For example, “data on pain and functioning came from the participants’ responses on questionnaires.” The majority of “participants were women.” What’s more, “the yoga classes were designed for people with low back pain, so results may not be the same for people taking a regular yoga class.” Also covering the story are Reuters (6/19, Seaman), the CBS News (6/19, LaPook) website, CNBC (6/19, Ferris), and HealthDay (6/19, Norton).