Yoga effective therapy for managing metabolic syndrome and reduces CV risk in climacteric women

Metabolic syndrome is linked with a stressful and sedentary lifestyle and disproportionately affects underactive people. Yoga is considered a low-impact mind-body stress-relieving exercise, and researchers are focusing on their benefits for managing metabolic disorders.

Laura Alves Cota e Souza and colleagues from Brazil aimed to evaluate the effect of yoga on the frequency of metabolic syndrome and its impact on cardiovascular (CV) risk markers in climacteric women. For this purpose, they recruited 84 sedentary women between 40 and 65 diagnosed with MetS. Participants were randomly assigned to a 24-week yoga intervention or control group.

They evaluated the MetS frequency and changes in the individual components of MetS at baseline and following 24 weeks. They also assessed the impact of yoga practices on the CV risk through the following markers: Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP), Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), Lipid Accumulation Product (LAP), and High-sensitivity C-reactive Protein (hs-CRP).

The study led to the following findings:

• The frequency of MetS reduced significantly after 24 weeks of yoga practice (− 34.1%).
• Statistical analysis showed that the frequency of MetS was significantly lower in the yoga group (65.9%; n = 27) than in the control group (93.0%; n = 40) after 24 weeks.
• Regarding the individual components of MetS, yoga practitioners had statistically lower waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, HDLc, and glucose serum concentrations than the control group after 24 weeks.
• Yoga practitioners also significantly decreased hs-CRP serum concentrations (3.27 ± 2.95 mg/L versus 2.52 ± 2.14 mg/L) and a lower frequency of moderate or high cardiovascular risk (48.8% versus 34.1%) after 24 weeks of practice.
• The yoga group had LAP values significantly lower than the control group after the intervention period (55.8 ± 38.04 versus 73.9 ± 40.7).

"Yoga practice was an effective therapeutic to manage MetS and reduce cardiovascular risk in climacteric women," the researchers concluded.

Reference:

Cota e Souza, L.A., Gouvea, T.M., Fernandes, F.C. et al. Yoga practice can reduce metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk in climacteric women. J Behav Med (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-023-00420-y