Yoga has proven therapeutic effect in reducing stress and stress related damages in brain, opined Dr B N Gangadhar, director of the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, while inaugurating an international conference on stress, yoga and mind-body-medicine at Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai.
 
A leading psychiatrist, who has done his PhD in Yoga, Dr Gangadhar said age related shrinkage of the brain is not seen in people who practiced yoga regularly. Also longer telomere is seen in such people and they keep looking younger. Yoga also reduces the stress hormone “cortisol” that affects other organs and creates complications. In a highly competitive world today stress is ubiquitous and human mind has the resilience to overcome it by developing suitable techniques like yoga, meditation and breathing exercises, he added.
 
Dr J Radhakrishnan, health secretary, Tamil Nadu government, said people should adopt life-style changes and live in the present and reduce their stress.
 
The Vice Chancellor, Dr. JSN Murthy, released the book “Mind, Body-Medicine” written by Dr. Venkat Srinivasan, a researcher and expert in the field of yoga from Texas, USA and visiting professor in physiology, Sri Ramachandra University.