Yoga with routine medications may reduce CVD risk in diabetes patients: Study

Puducherry, India: A recent study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found 12 weeks of yoga practice along with routine antidiabetic medicines to be associated with reduced cardiovascular (CV) risk in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. 

According to the study, 12 weeks of practice of a structured yoga module improved heart rate variability (HRV), metabolic functions, and sympathovagal balance, and reduced CV risks in diabetes patients who received routine antidiabetic medicines along with yoga therapy compared to those who received antidiabetic medicines alone. The reduction in cardiometabolic risks in these patients is tied to improvement in total power (TP) of HRV. 

Gopal Krushna Pal, Department of Physiology, JIPMER, Puducherry, India, and colleagues aimed to investigate the effects of 12 weeks practice of a structured yoga module on heart rate variability and cardiometabolic risks in patients with T2D receiving similar kind of oral antidiabetic drugs (OAD) with yoga therapy and without yoga therapy, matched for all the known confounders in a parallel design interventional (randomized control trial) study.

The study included eighty treatment-naive males with type 2 diabetes. They were randomized into the control group (n = 40) and study group (n = 40). Study group participants received a structured yoga therapy that included asana and pranayama practice for 12 weeks in addition to OAD, whereas control group participants received OAD alone. 

BP parameters, rate pressure product (RPP) as the marker of myocardial stress, total power (TP) of HRV, low-frequency to high-frequency (LF–HF) ratio of HRV, homeostatic model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), lipid profile, and lipid risk factors, malondialdehyde (MDA), and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were measured before and after the intervention. TP of HRV was defined as the primary outcome.

Using correlation and regression analyses, the researchers assessed the association of TP (the marker of HRV) and LF–HF ratio (the marker of sympathovagal balance) with cardiometabolic parameters. 

Future studies should also include a control group with rapid walking or a similar exercise program of equal time to the yoga intervention group to discern whether it is in fact yoga that is leading to these results and not simply increased CV activity, the researchers concluded. 

Reference:

Murugesan Danasegaran, Gopal Krushna Pal, Jayaprakash Sahoo, Pravati Pal, Nivedita Nanda, and Manoharan Renugasundari.The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.ahead of print http://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2020.0489