Score one more for yoga!

Researchers say light stretching can do what a pharmacy full of drugs often cannot: Bring real relief to women suffering from fibromyalgia, the mystifying and often debilitating pain condition.

Researchers from York University in Toronto asked 22 women to take 75-minute hatha yoga classes twice a week. After just eight weeks, the women reported less pain than they did at the start of the study.

They also felt better about their condition, reporting less helplessness and more acceptance, and they were less likely to focus on the worst possible outcomes of the disease.

Although those responses were based on a questionnaire given before and after the study, there were also noticeable changes on a much more objective level. The researchers say the women had higher levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol after eight weeks of yoga lessons.

Now, that might sound bad. “Stress hormone” sounds like trouble, and you definitely don’t want too much of it hanging around.

But too little can be even worse, because the stress hormone is needed to help control inflammation and regulate blood pressure. More importantly, it also keeps the immune system in check — the same immune system that often goes haywire in fibromyalgia patients.

And not so coincidentally, fibro patients usually have very low levels of cortisol.

Since the study was small, it’ll take more research before anyone can say for sure whether yoga can boost cortisol levels in the long run — but other studies have been encouraging, at least when it comes to pain relief.

In one I told you about last year, yoga actually brought as much relief as drugs, with none of the risks. (Read about it here.)

Now, if you’re suffering from fibro, I know you might think the pretzel-like contortions of yoga are the last things your body could handle.

In reality, the hatha form of yoga used in the new study is one of the most basic — and the most gentle.

And in addition to helping to beat pain and regulate your cortisol levels, yoga has been shown to boost physical strength and energy levels, lower blood pressure, and even improve mental health.

You can often find inexpensive or even free lessons through your local library, park, or senior center — or even try it on your own with a book or video.

Happy stretching.

Real-life medical mysteries don’t play out like an episode of “House.” Many people suffer through years of frustrations and setbacks without ever getting any answers.

But even if a team of docs, specialists, and House himself can’t figure out what’s wrong, you can still get real relief from many of the world’s most mysterious — and most common -– conditions.

All it takes is a little patience… and a lot of needles. I’m talking, of course, about acupuncture.

A new study finds that when it comes to musculoskeletal health problems and other common “mystery” disorders, acupuncture can ease pain and improve quality of life.

British researchers recruited 80 patients with an average age of 50 who had made at least eight trips to the doctor over the past year for conditions that included chronic pain, fatigue, and/or emotional problems. Many of these patients were in so much pain they had trouble completing everyday tasks, had problems at work, or even disability.

Half of these patients were given 12 acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks, while the other half served as a control group.

Those who got the pins-and-needles treatment reported remarkable improvements — including a boost in overall wellbeing, more energy, and less pain. What’s more, the researchers wrote in the British Journal of General Practice that these benefits remained even 26 weeks after the treatments ended.

The control group, naturally, showed no improvements. But after the initial 26 weeks, researchers invited them to the acupuncture party –- and they quickly recovered to the same degree as the patients in the first group.

Despite being poorly understood by mainstream doctors, mystery conditions such as musculoskeletal problems are far more common than you might think. Up to a fifth of all patients suffer from them, which means someone you know is probably battling one of these illnesses right now.

You might even be in that fight yourself.

But as the new study shows, you don’t have to take “I don’t know” for an answer anymore.

If your doc is stumped and all the specialists in the world insist there’s nothing wrong with you, don’t book another fruitless appointment.

Try an acupuncturist instead.

But while you’re going alternative, why stop there?

An experienced naturopathic physician might be able to succeed where your mainstream doc failed and find the real source of your condition.

Scalpel? Check. Forceps? Check. Leeches?

Wait… leeches?

Check!

You might not think of bloodsuckers as a staple of the modern operating room… but some of the nation’s best surgeons now keep them alongside the most common tools in modern medicine.

And a recent report in the Baltimore Sun finds that they’re being counted on to literally save life and limb.

Leeches come equipped with their own natural anticoagulant, which stops the formation of clots so they can suck up blood to their little leechy heart’s content.

But doctors have found that the same anticoagulant can also keep blood flowing to and from badly damaged areas–including reattached fingers and toes and skin flaps.

That might sound a little creepy… and plenty gross… but doctors say it can mean the difference between saving a digit and losing it. Leeches can also help prevent the complications that can lead to additional risky surgeries in trauma patients.

And while there are no hard numbers to show how often these relics of the Middle Ages are used in today’s operating rooms, more than 100 doctors turned up for a recent seminar on the use of leeches.

The host of the seminar, BioTherapeutics, Education and Research Foundation director Dr. Ronald A. Sherman, told the Sun that it was the biggest audience he’s ever had.

But you don’t need to be on the verge of losing a finger or toe to benefit from leeches–because researchers have found another way the creatures can play a major role in modern medicine: pain relief.

Leeches secrete a powerful painkiller, which is why you don’t feel the hundreds of tiny teeth they use to dig in and drink up. And now, researchers believe that painkiller could work as an anesthesia or even help people cope with arthritis pain.

Of course, I don’t recommend experimenting with that at home.

But don’t be too surprised to see Leechynol on the shelf of your local pharmacy one of these days.

Talk about missing the point!

Researchers studying acupuncture claim they’ve unlocked the secret of the ancient Chinese treatment–and, what’s more, they think they can actually improve it by adding drugs to the mix.

I guess they’re not sharp enough to realize that many people turn to acupuncture for pain relief precisely because they don’t want meds.

Not only that, but they also seem to have some common misconceptions about acupuncture–and that comes through in the study, which you’ll find in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Researchers poked a group of rodents experiencing “paw discomfort” for about 30 minutes, and found adenosine levels in tissue around the insertion points was 24 times greater after the treatment.

The researchers then claimed that these mice experienced a two-thirds drop in paw pain.

The researchers then boosted adenosine levels without using needles in a second group, and claimed that these mice experienced the same level of relief.

And finally, the researchers also jabbed needles into the paws of mice that were genetically engineered to have no adenosine. These mice, the researchers say, did not get an adenosine boost, proving… well… not much, because the answer isn’t in adenosine levels at the insertion points anyway.

If you’ve never experienced acupuncture for yourself, it’s easy to imagine it as, for example, a bunch of needles inserted into the heel to help alleviate heel pain.

But it doesn’t work like that.

Acupuncture sites are located throughout the body, not just in the places where you feel pain. Neck pain might be treated with needles in the ankles and wrists, while shoulder pain might be treated with needles behind the knee.

So even if these needles are causing a boost in adenosine at the insertion points, it doesn’t explain the real relief people experience at locations far from those spots.

And the relief is real: Studies that have compared genuine acupuncture to a sham treatment where the needles are placed randomly have found that the real thing is far more effective.

In other words, it really matters where you stick those needles. Just don’t expect the mainstream to get the point.