By C. Vidyashankar, MD Fri Dec 28, 4:44 PM ET
CHANNAI, India (Reuters Health) - Yoga induces a feeling of
well-being in healthy people, and can reverse the clinical and
biochemical changes associated with metabolic syndrome, according
to results of studies from
Sweden and
India. Metabolic syndrome
is a cluster of heart disease risk factors such as high blood
pressure, obesity and high blood sugar.
Dr. R.P. Agrawal, of the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India,
and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga and
meditation in 101 adults with features of metabolic syndrome. In
the study, 55 adults received three months of regular yoga
including standard postures and Raja Yoga, a form of
transcendental meditation daily, while the remaining received
standard care.
Waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, and
triglycerides were significantly lower, and "good" HDL cholesterol
levels were higher in the yoga group as compared to controls,
Agrawal's team reports in the journal Diabetes Research and
Clinical Practice.
In the second study, published online December 19 in BioMed
Central Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dr. Anette
Kjellgren from the University of
Karlstad, Sweden and
colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga-like breathing
exercises on healthy volunteers.
Fifty-five adults were advised to practice "Sudarshan Kriya,"
which involves cycles of slow normal and rapid breathing
exercises. The exercises were practiced for an hour daily, six
days a week for six weeks, while 48 controls were advised to relax
in an armchair for 15 minutes daily.
At the end of the study period, feelings of anxiety, stress and
depression were significantly lower and levels of optimism
significantly higher in the yoga group compared to the control
group, Kjellgren and colleagues report.
Yoga induces a "relaxation response" associated with reduced
nervous system activity and a feeling of well-being probably due
to an increase in antioxidants and lower levels of the
stress hormone cortisol,
they suggest.
Yoga not only helps in prevention of lifestyle diseases, but
can also be "a powerful adjunct therapy when these diseases
arise," co-investigator Dr. Faahri Saatiglou, from the University
of Oslo, told Reuters Health. "We do not emphasize this point
enough in our Western health care."
SOURCES: Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, December
2007, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, online December
19, 2007.
|
