International Journal of Yoga最新文献

Context: Valsalva maneuver (VM) is performed during strength physical exercises because it stabilizes the torso through an increased intra-abdominal pressure. By contrast, yoga practitioners are discouraged from Valsalva. Instead, they use Ujjayi breath (UB), which consists of unstopped breathing through the narrowed glottis.

Settings and design: This study was an observational research performed in healthy participants. The aim of this study was to evaluate veins in the groin area during different types of breathing. We examined both lower limbs in ten healthy people in the standing body position during: (a) normal breathing, (b) VM, and (c) UB. We measured the cross-sectional areas of the femoral and the great saphenous veins (GSVs) in proximity to the saphenofemoral junction (SFJ) and the function of the terminal valve of the GSV.

Results: In all participants, the terminal and preterminal valves of the GSV were competent. VM was associated with complete closure of the terminal valve, while during UB, this valve was opening and closing, following the breathing. Regarding the cross-sectional areas of the veins studied, in comparison with normal breathing, there were only slight dilatations during Valsalva and UB. The cross-sectional area of the femoral vein increased by 7%-9% during Valsalva and 2%-4% during Ujjayi; the cross-sectional area of the GSV increased by 17%-18% during Valsalva and 15%-16% during Ujjayi.

Conclusions: In the standing body position, UB allows for undisturbed flow through the SFJ, while Valsalva interrupts this flow, with blood stagnation distally from the terminal valve. Both Valsalva and UBs have minimal effect on the cross-sectional areas of the veins in the groin in the standing body position.

The scientific community is actively exploring the effects of breath-related practices on the emotional, physiological, and cognitive functioning of human beings. It is no longer the singular realm of exploration of the spiritual communities. A thorough search of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar was performed to locate pertinent articles on respiratory entrainment of hippocampal waveforms and its relationship with memory. The search utilized terms such as "hippocampal waveforms," "respiratory entrainment," and "phase-amplitude coupling (PAC)," which were combined using Boolean operators (AND, OR). There is no dearth of literature indicating consolidation, retrieval, and escalation of memory encoding with breath-related practices. However, the underlying mechanisms linking breath and brain cognition in human beings require further rigorous scientific exploration, which is still in a primitive stage. Nasal airflow during inhalation stimulates various structures in the brain and interferes with hippocampal waves. These hippocampal waves are modified by the nature of respiratory rhythm through hierarchically organized PAC. In addition, research proposes that nasal breathing organizes neuronal activity across the brain and accomplishes intricate behaviors, including memory. Apparently, as hippocampal respiration-induced rhythm tracks breathing, controlled breathing practices can be framed as an active interference mechanism to secure hold over one's mind and cognition. Hence, in this article, we discuss an overview of the emerging literature on how the physiological regulation of nasal breathing is linked with the neural and cognitive processes.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes different physical and mental symptoms, especially fatigue and depression. Yoga is a form of complementary and alternative medicine treatment. Bhramari pranayama breathing exercise is a yoga practice. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Bhramari pranayama yoga on the severity of fatigue and depression in MS patients.

Materials and methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 78 patients visiting the MS Association in an urban area of Iran were randomly assigned to two groups using the minimization method. The intervention group (n = 38) performed Bhramari pranayama yoga for 20 min, twice a day for 4 weeks. The control group (n = 40) received routine care from the MS Association. The participants in the two groups were evaluated before and after the intervention using Fatigue Severity Scale and Beck Depression Inventory-II. The data were analyzed using SPSS-26 software.

Results: The data showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the mean scores of fatigue and depression before the intervention. However, after the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in the mean scores of fatigue (P < 0.01; confidence interval [CI]: -25.34, -17.81; effect size: -2.80) and depression (P = 0.001; CI: -18.91, -11.25; effect size: -1.92).

Conclusion: Yoga can reduce the severity of fatigue and depression in MS patients. Thus, Bhramari pranayama, as a yoga exercise that can be easily learned and practiced is recommended to specialists, MS clinic officials and patients.

Background: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a complex neural network responsible for maintaining homeostasis through its sympathetic and parasympathetic components. Yoga, an ancient mind-body practice, has been shown to modulate autonomic function, promoting homeostasis. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the differential impact of spinal flexion and extension-based yoga postures on autonomic modulation in practitioners with at least 2 years of consistent yoga practice.

Methods: This randomized crossover trial included 40 participants of both genders who had practiced yoga for at least 2 years, averaging 3-5 sessions per week. Participants were randomly allocated (1:1) into two groups: Group 1 (n = 20) practiced a set of three spinal flexion-based postures (SFP: Halasana, Padahastasana, Shashankasana) on day 1 and three spinal extension-based postures (SEP: Ardhachakrasana, Ushtrasana, Chakrasana) on day 2; Group 2 (N = 20) practiced SEP on day 1 and SFP on day 2. Autonomic function was assessed using heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate (RR), galvanic skin resistance (GSR), and electrogastrogram (EGG), which were measured for 5 min at baseline and 5 min postintervention on both days. The data were analyzed based on linear mixed models.

Results: Both SFP and SEP interventions resulted in a significant increase in the high-frequency (HF) component of HRV (P < 0.001), indicating parasympathetic predominance immediately postintervention. RR showed a significant increase postintervention (P < 0.001), likely due to the higher energy demands of the postures. No significant changes were observed in GSR for either intervention. EGG recordings indicated a nonsignificant decrease in overall gastric motility postintervention, potentially due to vagal nerve stimulation.

Conclusion: Both spinal flexion and extension-based yoga postures enhance parasympathetic activity in moderately experienced practitioners, as evidenced by increased HF HRV. Future research should focus on long-term impact of different yoga postures and employ advanced measurement techniques for greater methodological rigor.

Background: Krida yoga, as a stand-alone intervention, has not been extensively researched in the field of mental health, especially for inpatients. Previous studies have been conducted on healthy populations and have included Krida yoga as the part of their overall yoga programme. Most of these yoga programs have reported improvements in various outcomes, such as stress, anxiety, physical health, and psychological wellbeing, with no negative effects, indicating that Krida yoga, along with other forms of yoga, is beneficial. In this context, the current study aimed to develop and test the feasibility of the Krida yoga group programme on stress and well-being of inpatients of the Department of Integrative Medicine, NIMHANS.

Methods: A sample of 30 inpatients having neurological and psychiatric conditions participated in a 15-day, thrice-weekly, 1-h Krida yoga programme conducted by the researcher, a certified yoga trainer. Tools such as the Perceived Stress Scale-14 (PSS-14) and WHO Well-being Scale (WHO-5) were used to assess the pre- and post-effects of the Krida yoga programme on days 0 and 15.

Results: Pre- and post-quantitative findings indicated a significant reduction in stress from 35.20 (5.51%) to 19.86 (3.9%) and an improvement in well-being from 9.36 (1.67%) to 15.93 (1.93%). Thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected from the inpatients supported the quantitative findings. The triangulated quantitative and qualitative findings suggested moderate to high feasibility of the Krida yoga group programme for inpatients in mental health settings.

Conclusion: Based on these results, it can be concluded that the Krida yoga programme is feasible to conduct and should be tested for its effectiveness in future randomized controlled trials.

Context: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly experience cardiac autonomic dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and psychological disturbances. Limitations in current treatment modalities warrant the need for simple, cost-effective adjuvant therapies. Pranayama, a fundamental component of yoga, has been proven to be beneficial for several medical disorders.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the effects of the 12-week practice of Anulom Vilom Pranayama (AVP) or Alternate Nostril Breathing (ANB) as an adjunctive therapy on the cardiac autonomic balance, cognition, psychological status, and quality of life (QoL) in individuals with PD.

Subjects and methods: This randomized controlled trial involved 86 individuals (55 males, 31 females, aged 35-70 years) with mild-to-moderate PD. Participants were randomized into the control group receiving conventional treatment only or the test group receiving AVP as an adjunctive therapy to the conventional treatment. Cardiac autonomic status (heart rate variability [HRV]), cognition (P300, Reaction Time), affect, psychological status, and QoL were assessed in all the participants at baseline and after 12 weeks of respective intervention.

Statistical analysis: The change in study parameters (0-12 weeks) was compared between the control and test groups using the Mann-Whitney U test or Independent samples t-test. The correlation between the change in low-frequency (LF)/high-frequency (HF) ratio and QoL and its effect at 12 weeks was assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The test group revealed significantly high total HRV (standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals [SDNN], total power) and HRV indices of cardiac parasympathetic activity (square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals [RMSSD], percentage of NN50 [pNN50], HF power, HF normalized unit) and significantly low HRV indices of cardiac sympathetic activity (LF normalized unit) and cardiac sympathovagal balance (LF/HF ratio) compared to the control group. Similarly, significant improvement in cognition, psychological status, and QoL was also observed in the test group. While significant correlations were observed between the change in LF/HF ratio and QoL in both the groups, a significant correlation between the change in LF/HF ratio and positive affect was observed only in the test group.

Conclusions: Twelve weeks of practice of AVP significantly improved the cardiac sympathovagal balance, cognition, positive affect, and QoL and decreased the negative affect, depression, stress, and anxiety in patients with mild-to-moderate PD.

Background: Yoga is a widely recognized form of aerobic exercise that has gained significant popularity in recent years, with well-documented positive effects on respiratory functions. However, there is a limited body of research investigating the impact of yoga performed for various durations. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the acute and chronic effects of a 4-week hatha yoga (HY) exercise program with different durations (60 min and 30 min) on pulmonary function in sedentary young individuals.

Methods: A total of 52 sedentary individuals aged 15-16 years were randomly divided into three groups: 60 min HY group (60 min HY, n = 21), 30 min HY group (30 min HY, n = 15), and control group (CG, n = 16). The 60 mHY and 30 mHY groups underwent a yoga exercise protocol twice a week for 4 weeks, while the participants in the CG were instructed on the physical activity guidelines but did not perform yoga exercises. Pulmonary function profile was assessed using a spirometer device.

Results: The forced vital capacity of the groups in the 60 mHY group increased after 4 weeks compared to the 30 mHY and CG groups (P = 0.002, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.10- -0.07). The forced expiratory volume in one second (P < 0.001, 95% CI = -0.03-0.54) improved in the 60 mHY group. Peak expiratory flow was least improved in the CG (P = 0.004, 95% CI =-1.23 to - 0.32). Forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% (FEF25/75) of vital capacity changed the most at 60 mHY (P = 0.004, 95% CI=-1.72 to - 0.49). The forced expiratory time varied with time but did not differ across the groups.

Conclusions: A 4-week HY program, particularly with 60-min sessions, significantly improved pulmonary function in sedentary young participants. The findings suggest that the longer the duration of HY, the greater the effects on the pulmonary system, and therefore, we suggest that the effects of yoga programs on different populations should be investigated.

Background and aim: Oxidative stress (OS) and oxidative DNA damage are significant contributors to male infertility, negatively affecting sperm function and genomic integrity by modulating the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI). Elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels lead to the accumulation of harmful DNA adducts such as 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), which can impair fertility and increase cancer risk. Our study intended to investigate the effects of a 12-week yoga intervention on seminal ROS levels, OS marker, sperm quality, and sperm DFI in primary infertile men.

Materials and methods: Out of a total of 78 primary infertile men who met the specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, 42 participants successfully completed the 12-week yoga intervention. Semen analyses were conducted at pre- and postintervention, as per World Health Organization-21 guidelines (sixth edition), ROS levels were measured by the luminol assay, and 8-OHdG levels were evaluated using ELISA. The sperm DFI was assessed by the Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay.

Results: The 12-week yoga intervention resulted in significant improvements in total sperm count (from 34 to 129 million sperm/ejaculate) and progressive motility (from 15% to 35%). Seminal ROS levels significantly decreased from 45.3 to 16.5 relative light units (RLU)/s/million sperm (P < 0.001), and 8-OHdG levels decreased from 86.47 to 48.2 ng/ml (P < 0.001). A decreasing trend (P = 0.068) in DFI was observed at postyoga intervention.

Conclusion: Our study revealed that regular yoga practice significantly improves sperm function and reduces OS and DNA damage in infertile men. These findings support yoga as a beneficial adjunct therapy for the management of unexplained male infertility and can potentially enhance fertility outcomes.

Hypothyroidism is one of the most common endocrinopathies, primarily affecting women, and if untreated, it can lead to serious life-threatening complications. The management of hypothyroidism is challenging due to its uncommon presentations and associated physical and psychological comorbidities. Here, we present the case of a 53-year-old female who presented with increased body weight, full-body aches, indigestion, chronic fatigue, altered mental state, insomnia, and self-reported intolerance to levothyroxine. She underwent a yoga- and naturopathy-based lifestyle intervention through telehealth for an initial period of 2.8 years and later as an inpatient for 20 days. Her thyroid-stimulating hormone levels reduced from 78.36 uIU/ml to 14.62 uIU/ml over 3 years. Significant improvements were also observed in her body mass index (from 32 to 26 kg/m²), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (from 15 to 5), and SF-12 quality of life (physical: from 23.86 to 52.22 and mental: from 22.46 to 53.63). Yoga- and naturopathy-based interventions may offer a safe therapeutic alternative for patients who experience significant side effects from levothyroxine. However, robust trials are needed to validate this finding.