Yoga shown to slow heart disease

MONDAY, JULY 31, 2000

Yoga can help slow atherosclerosis - the build-up of fatty deposits on the lining of arteries - in patients with severe coronary artery disease, according to an Indian study.

A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Adhyatma Sadhna Kendra in Delhi, studied 42 men with proven coronary artery disease. One group of participants undertook regular yoga sessions over the course of a year, the other group not engaging in yoga.

The yoga was for 90 minutes daily. Exercises included health-rejuvenating exercises, breathing exercises, meditation, relaxation exercises, reflection and contemplation. Participants in both groups took their normal medications during the study.

Before the program began, angiography - a technique that uses a dye to outline the heart arteries on x-ray - was performed on all the patients.

Writing in the July issue of the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, the researchers observed that after one year, the yoga group showed a significant increase in exercise capacity, reduction in episodes of chest pain, less need to have their arteries unblocked, decreased body weight, and lower cholesterol levels.

The investigators concluded that a yoga program was a feasible way to treat advanced coronary artery disease.