The effect of yoga practice on muscular strength improvement in patients with multiple sclerosis

Background/Aims Multiple sclerosis is a common condition in the central nervous system where patients experience many issues, including muscle weakness. This study offers an investigation of continuous hatha yoga exercises on patients with multiple sclerosis. Methods A total of 22 participants with multiple sclerosis were selected, 11 were allocated to the intervention group, and 11 to the control group. In both groups, surface electromyography and dynamometer were performed at the beginning and the end of the study. The intervention group undertook 90-minute sessions of hatha yoga training three times a week for 6 months and the control group did not do any particular exercise during this period. Results Dynamometer results indicated that yoga significantly improved the muscle strength of the participants with multiple sclerosis (before the intervention: 40.00 Nm +/- 14.66 Nm vs 56.82 Nm +/- 20.28 Nm after the intervention, P=0.037). However, there was no significant difference in muscle strength changes between the intervention and control groups (16.82 Nm +/- 23.26 Nm vs -2.86 Nm +/- 23.36 Nm, P=0.171). Yoga significantly increased participants muscle strength according to the surface electromyography signals (before the intervention: 39.91 V +/- 8.86 V vs 54.09 v +/- 8.95 V after the intervention, P=0.007). The muscle strength of the control group participants with multiple sclerosis decreased after 6 months, however it was not statistically significant (41.55 Nm +/- 9.3 Nm vs 34.55 Nm +/- 8.36 Nm, P=0.073). The comparison of changes showed that the surface electromyography signals in the intervention group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P=0.001). Conclusions: Yoga exercises, in addition to common multiple sclerosis treatment methods, can be considered as a complementary therapy to improve the physical aspects of multiple sclerosis symptoms.