Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE CARDIOLOGY
Volume 23, Issue 3, Pages 291-307Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1177/2047487314562741
Keywords
Yoga; cardiovascular disease; metabolic syndrome; systematic review; meta-analysis
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background Yoga, a popular mind-body practice, may produce changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic syndrome risk factors. Design This was a systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods Electronic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were performed for systematic reviews and RCTs through December 2013. Studies were included if they were English, peer-reviewed, focused on asana-based yoga in adults, and reported relevant outcomes. Two reviewers independently selected articles and assessed quality using Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool. Results Out of 1404 records, 37 RCTs were included in the systematic review and 32 in the meta-analysis. Compared to non-exercise controls, yoga showed significant improvement for body mass index (-0.77kg/m(2) (95% confidence interval -1.09 to -0.44)), systolic blood pressure (-5.21mmHg (-8.01 to -2.42)), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-12.14mg/dl (-21.80 to -2.48)), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (3.20mg/dl (1.86 to 4.54)). Significant changes were seen in body weight (-2.32kg (-4.33 to -0.37)), diastolic blood pressure (-4.98mmHg (-7.17 to -2.80)), total cholesterol (-18.48mg/dl (-29.16 to -7.80)), triglycerides (-25.89mg/dl (-36.19 to -15.60), and heart rate (-5.27 beats/min (-9.55 to -1.00)), but not fasting blood glucose (-5.91mg/dl (-16.32 to 4.50)) nor glycosylated hemoglobin (-0.06% Hb (-0.24 to 0.11)). No significant difference was found between yoga and exercise. One study found an impact on smoking abstinence. Conclusions There is promising evidence of yoga on improving cardio-metabolic health. Findings are limited by small trial sample sizes, heterogeneity, and moderate quality of RCTs.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available