Effect of Yoga in Post-Myocardial Infarction Cases

Introduction: The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) has progressively -increased in India and is the major cause of morbidity and mortality burden in the world. Several strategies are available to reduce morbidity and mortality, including the interventional approach (eg, early revascularization with PCI and stenting) and the pharmacologic approach (eg, thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapies) and yoga 1,2 The various psychological responses to experiencing myocardial infarction are anxiety reactions, depression , agoraphobia , exhaustion, hostility , sadness , anger , disgust and social withdrawal. 3 Yoga has reported to decrease these incidences. Methodology: The study included 200 patients diagnosed as MI who were divided into two groups 100 cases of control group subjected to conventional treatment and lifestyle counseling while 100 cases in test group were treated with yoga in addition to conventional treatment and lifestyle modification. The primary outcome included change in risk factors from baseline to end of study. Secondary outcome included change in Depression score and MACE at the end of the study. Result -After 24 weeks of intervention, the difference among yoga and control group was found to be significant for following parameters- weight, BMI, waist circumference, post prandial blood sugar, HBA1c, HDL cholesterol, triglyceride, total cholesterol and depression score. A significant difference was not seen for mean CIMT. Conclusion: Yoga may be a cost-effective technique to target multiple risk factors of myocardial infarction. It can be recommended along with conventional treatment for prevention and improvement of outcome in MI patients