News: December 2017

Bangor University receives funding to build health and social care research infrastructure 2018-2020

Research Groups in the Bangor Institute of Health and Medical Research (BIHMR) have been awarded significant amounts of further funding from the Welsh Government.

Publication date: 18 December 2017

Yoga in the workplace can reduce back pain and sickness absence

Back pain is the single leading cause of disability in the world. In the US, four out of every five people experience back pain at some point in their life. In the UK, back pain is one of the most common reasons for visits to the doctor , and missed work . In fact, absence from work due to back problems costs British employers more than £3 billion every year . But there is a potentially easy way to prevent this problem: yoga. Our new research has found that exercises from the ancient Indian practice can have very positive benefits for back problems. Our findings suggest that yoga programmes consisting of stretching, breathing, and relaxation methods can reduce sickness absence due to back pain and musculoskeletal conditions.

Publication date: 8 December 2017