1 846 118 EFFECT OF YOGA ON PULSE RATE VARIABILITY MEASURED FROM A VENOUS PRESSURE WAVEFORM. THE BENEFITS OF YOGA HAVE BEEN STUDIED IN DIFFERENT FIELDS, FROM CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS TO MENTAL DISORDERS, SHOWING THAT IT CAN HELP TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL HEALTH. IN PARTICULAR, IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT YOGA ALSO IMPROVES THE AUTONOMIC FUNCTION. HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) AT REST IS COMMONLY USED AS A NON-INVASIVE MEASURE OF AUTONOMIC REGULATION OF HEART RATE. ALTERNATIVELY, PULSE RATE VARIABILITY (PRV) HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS A SURROGATE OF HRV. VOLUMETRIX HAS DEVELOPED A NOVEL TECHNOLOGY THAT CAPTURES VENOUS WAVEFORMS VIA SENSORS ON THE VOLAR ASPECT OF THE WRIST, CALLED NIVABAND. THIS STUDY AIMS TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF YOGA IN THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM BY ANALYZING THE PRV OBTAINED FROM THE NIVA SIGNAL. TEMPORAL (STATISTICS OF THE NORMAL-TO-NORMAL INTERVALS), SPECTRAL (POWER IN LOW AND HIGH FREQUENCY BANDS) AND NONLINEAR (LAGGED POINCARE PLOT ANALYSIS) PARAMETERS ARE ANALYZED BEFORE AND AFTER A YOGA SESSION IN 20 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS. THE PRV ANALYSIS SHOWS AN INCREASE IN PARAMETERS RELATED TO PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND OVERALL VARIABILITY, AND A DECREASE IN PARAMETERS RELATED TO SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND MEAN HEART RATE. THESE RESULTS SUPPORT THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF YOGA IN AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCREASING THE PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY. 2019 2 850 38 EFFECT OF YOGA ON SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY MEASURE AS A STRESS INDEX IN SUBJUNIOR CYCLISTS: A PILOT STUDY. SUBJUNIOR ATHLETES EXPERIENCE MENTAL STRESS DUE TO PRESSURE FROM THE COACH, TEACHERS AND PARENTS FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE. STRESS, IF REMAINS FOR LONGER PERIOD AND NOT MANAGED APPROPRIATELY CAN LEADS TO NEGATIVE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND COGNITIVE IMPACT ON CHILDREN. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS AIMED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF INTEGRATED YOGA MODULE ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) MEASURE AS A STRESS INDEX IN SUBJUNIOR CYCLISTS. FAST FURRIER TRANSFORM TECHNIQUE OF FREQUENCY DOMAIN METHOD WAS USED FOR THE ANALYSIS OF HRV. WE HAVE FOUND A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) COMPONENT BY 14.64% (P < 0.05) AND DECREASE IN THE LOW FREQUENCY COMPONENT (LF) OF HRV SPECTRUM BY 5.52% (P < 0.05) AND A DECREASE IN LF/HF RATIO BY 19.63% (P < 0.01) IN YOGA GROUP. IN THE CONTROL GROUP, THERE WAS DECREASE IN THE HF COMPONENT AND, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE LF COMPONENT OF HRV SPECTRUM AND LF/HF RATIO. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT YOGA PRACTICE DECREASES SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND CAUSES A SHIFT IN THE AUTONOMIC BALANCE TOWARDS PARASYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE INDICATING A REDUCTION IN STRESS. IN CONCLUSION, YOGA PRACTICE HELPS TO REDUCE STRESS BY OPTIMIZING THE AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS. SO, IT IS SUGGESTED TO INCORPORATE YOGA MODULE AS A REGULAR FEATURE TO KEEP SUBJUNIOR ATHLETES BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY FIT. 2013 3 1988 37 SPECTRAL PARAMETERS OF HRV IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS, ATHLETES AND SEDENTARY MALES. PHYSICAL INACTIVITY IS AN IMPORTANT RISK FACTOR FOR CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY. EXERCISE IS CONSIDERED AN ACCEPTABLE METHOD FOR IMPROVING AND MAINTAINING PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH. ALTHOUGH YOGA IS HISTORICALLY A SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, A GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE BELIEF THAT YOGA BENEFITS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE HEART RATE VARIABILITY WHICH REFLECTS AUTONOMIC CONTROL OF HEART AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS, ATHLETES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE. THE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT IN THE DEPARTMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY AT MAMC AGROHA, HISAR AND PT. BD SHARMA PGIMS ROHTAK, HARYANA. THE STUDY GROUP COMPRISED OF 1200 HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS OF 16 TO 55 YEARS OF AGE. THE STUDY GROUP WAS DIVIDED INTO FOUR AGE GROUPS: GROUP A OF AGE 16 TO 25 YEARS; GROUP B OF AGE 26 TO 35 YEARS; GROUP C OF AGE 36 TO 45 YEARS AND GROUP D OF AGE 46 TO 55 YEARS. ALL AGE GROUPS WERE FURTHER DIVIDED INTO THREE CATEGORIES I.E ATHLETE (RUNNER), YOGA (YOGA PRACTITIONERS) AND SEDENTARY IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS WITH SEDENTARY LIFE STYLE WERE INCLUDED. THE BASAL RECORDING OF ECG IN LEAD II WAS DONE FOR 5 MINUTES. THE POLYRITE-D ECG DATA WAS USED FOR ANALYSIS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY BY FREQUENCY DOMAIN METHOD. TWO SPECTRAL COMPONENTS WERE RECORDED NAMELY HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) COMPONENT (0.15-0.4 HZ), AN INDICATOR OF VAGAL EFFERENT ACTIVITY AND LOW FREQUENCY (LF) COMPONENT (0.04-.15 HZ), REPLICATOR OF COMPOSITE SYMPATHO-VAGAL INTERPLAY. HF COMPONENT IN NORMALIZED UNIT WAS FOUND SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH IN AGE GROUP B AND C IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND ATHLETES AS COMPARED TO SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS AND IN AGE GROUP D SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AS COMPARED TO ATHLETES AND SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS. SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED LF/HF RATIO WAS FOUND IN AGE GROUP B AND C IN YOGA AND ATHLETE SUBJECTS AS COMPARED TO SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS AND IN AGE GROUP D IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AS COMPARED TO ATHLETES AND SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS. THIS INDICATES THAT PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY IS SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. 2015 4 492 34 COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR EVALUATION BASED ON PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AMONG YOUNG HEALTHY SUBJECTS WITH YOGA AS INTERVENTION. OBJECTIVE: TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON COGNITIVE SKILLS, AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY BY ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS. METHODS: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 30 NORMAL YOUNG HEALTHY ENGINEERING STUDENTS. THEY WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED INTO TWO GROUPS: YOGA GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP. THE YOGA GROUP PRACTICED YOGA ONE AND HALF HOUR PER DAY FOR SIX DAYS IN A WEEK, FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE MONTHS. RESULTS: THE YOGA PRACTISING GROUP SHOWED INCREASED ALPHA, BETA, AND DELTA EEG BAND POWERS AND SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THETA AND GAMMA BAND POWERS. THE INCREASED ALPHA AND BETA POWER CAN REPRESENT ENHANCED COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS MEMORY AND CONCENTRATION, AND THAT OF DELTA SIGNIFIES SYNCHRONIZATION OF BRAIN ACTIVITY. THE HEART RATE INDEX THETA/ALPHA DECREASED, NEURAL ACTIVITY BETA/THETA INCREASED, ATTENTION RESOURCE INDEX BETA/(ALPHA + THETA) INCREASED, EXECUTIVE LOAD INDEX (DELTA + THETA)/ALPHA DECREASED, AND THE RATIO (DELTA + THETA)/(ALPHA + BETA) DECREASED. THE YOGA PRACTICE GROUP SHOWED IMPROVEMENT IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY, INCREASED SDNN/RMSSD, AND REDUCTION IN LF/HF RATIO. CONCLUSION: YOGA PRACTISING GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN VARIOUS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT, NEURAL ACTIVITY, ATTENTION, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION. IT ALSO RESULTED IN INCREASE IN THE HEART RATE VARIABILITY, PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY, AND BALANCED AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM REACTIVITY. 2015 5 1027 30 EFFECTS OF YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN HEALTHY ADOLESCENTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED AMONG HEALTHY ADOLESCENTS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF A YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE (BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA, BHR.P) TOWARDS CARDIAC AUTONOMIC FUNCTION USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) PARAMETERS. METHODS: OF THE 730 ELIGIBLE SUBJECTS SCREENED, 520 HEALTHY ADOLESCENTS WHO MET THE INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER YOGA BREATHING GROUP (N=260) OR CONTROL GROUP (N=260). THE YOGA BREATHING GROUP PRACTICED BHR.P. FIVE DAYS A WEEK FOR A DURATION OF SIX MONTHS WHILE THE CONTROL GROUP CONTINUED WITH THEIR DAILY ROUTINE WITHOUT ANY INTERVENTION. OUTCOME MEASURES WERE TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN OF HRV IN BOTH GROUPS WHICH WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION USING LEAD II ECG. LINEAR MODELS WERE USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF SHORT TERM HRV. RESULTS: AFTER 6 MONTHS OF YOGA BREATHING, THE TIME DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF SHORT TERM HRV SHOWED SIGNIFICANT (P<0.05) IMPROVEMENT TOWARDS THE PARASYMPATHETIC DOMAIN. FREQUENCY DOMAIN PARAMETERS ALSO SHOWED THE SAME DIRECTION OF CHANGES. IN CONTRAST, CONTROL GROUP SUBJECTS SHOWED A TREND TOWARDS A SYMPATHETIC DOMAIN. CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY SHOWED A POSITIVE SHIFT IN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC MODULATION TOWARDS PARASYMPATHETIC PREDOMINANCE AFTER 6 MONTHS OF YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE AMONG APPARENTLY HEALTHY ADOLESCENTS. 2020 6 2085 27 THE EFFECT OF LONG TERM COMBINED YOGA PRACTICE ON THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE OF HEALTHY ADULTS. BACKGROUND: DIFFERENT PROCEDURES PRACTICED IN YOGA HAVE STIMULATORY OR INHIBITORY EFFECTS ON THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE WHEN STUDIED ACUTELY. IN DAILY LIFE HOWEVER, THESE PROCEDURES ARE USUALLY PRACTICED IN COMBINATION. THE PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE NET CHANGE IN THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR) OF INDIVIDUALS ACTIVELY ENGAGING IN A COMBINATION OF YOGA PRACTICES (ASANA OR YOGIC POSTURES, MEDITATION AND PRANAYAMA OR BREATHING EXERCISES) FOR A MINIMUM PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS, AT A RESIDENTIAL YOGA EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER AT BANGALORE. METHODS: THE MEASURED BMR OF INDIVIDUALS PRACTICING YOGA THROUGH A COMBINATION OF PRACTICES WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF CONTROL SUBJECTS WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA BUT LED SIMILAR LIFESTYLES. RESULTS: THE BMR OF THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE NON-YOGA GROUP, AND WAS LOWER BY ABOUT 13 % WHEN ADJUSTED FOR BODY WEIGHT (P < 0.001). THIS DIFFERENCE PERSISTED WHEN THE GROUPS WERE STRATIFIED BY GENDER; HOWEVER, THE DIFFERENCE IN BMR ADJUSTED FOR BODY WEIGHT WAS GREATER IN WOMEN THAN MEN (ABOUT 8 AND 18% RESPECTIVELY). IN ADDITION, THE MEAN BMR OF THE YOGA GROUP WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THEIR PREDICTED VALUES, WHILE THE MEAN BMR OF NON-YOGA GROUP WAS COMPARABLE WITH THEIR PREDICTED VALUES DERIVED FROM 1985 WHO/FAO/UNU PREDICTIVE EQUATIONS. CONCLUSION: THIS STUDY SHOWS THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BMR, PROBABLY LINKED TO REDUCED AROUSAL, WITH THE LONG TERM PRACTICE OF YOGA USING A COMBINATION OF STIMULATORY AND INHIBITORY YOGIC PRACTICES. 2006 7 1388 37 IMPACT OF SHORT-TERM PRACTICE OF YOGA ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS A SCIENCE THAT FACILITATES HOMEOSTASIS, AN ANCIENT WAY OF LIFE INTENDED TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF AN INDIVIDUAL. PRACTICE OF YOGA IS PROPOSED TO ALTER THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM AND AFFECT THE CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTIONING. THIS STUDY WAS INTENDED TO ASSESS THE INFLUENCE OF SHORT-TERM PRACTICE OF YOGA FOR A MONTH ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: TOTALLY, 40 HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS IN THE AGE GROUP OF 30-60 YEARS WILLING TO PRACTICE YOGA FOR A MONTH WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. HRV WAS ASSESSED USING HRV DEVICE (RMS VAGUS, INDIA). PREINTERVENTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF HRV WAS DONE IN THESE SUBJECTS. PRACTICE OF YOGA THAT INCLUDED A SET OF PHYSICAL POSTURES (ASANAS), BREATHING TECHNIQUES (PRANAYAMA), AND MEDITATION (DHYANA) WERE PERFORMED FOR AN HOUR DAILY FOR 1 MONTH UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF A CERTIFIED YOGA INSTRUCTOR. POSTINTERVENTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF HRV WAS DONE. THE VALUES WERE EXPRESSED IN MEDIAN AND THEIR INTERQUARTILE RANGE, AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS DONE TO COMPARE THE CHANGES USING WILCOXON SIGNED RANK TEST. RESULTS: THIRTY-TWO OF 40 SUBJECTS RECRUITED FOR YOGA PRACTICE COMPLETED THE STUDY PROTOCOL. ANALYSIS OF HRV REVEALED THAT IN TIME DOMAIN PARAMETERS, SDNN INCREASED FROM 33.60 (31.41-44.82) TO 42.11 (34.43-57.51), RMSSD INCREASED FROM 22.00 (16.00-33.80) TO 25.6 (17.0-34.8), AND PNN50 INCREASED FROM 2.45 (0.80-15.38) TO 7.35 (1.40-18.57) AFTER INTERVENTION. IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN PARAMETERS, THE LOW-FREQUENCY (LF) POWER SPECTRUM REDUCED FROM 39.30 (25.1-46.25) TO 30.40 (22.75-40.62) AND LF/HIGH-FREQUENCY RATIO WAS REDUCED FROM 2.62 (1.91-4.07) TO 2.28 (1.4-3.07) AFTER 1 MONTH PRACTICE OF YOGA. P < 0.05 WAS CONSIDERED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. CONCLUSION: AUTONOMIC BALANCE TILTS TOWARD PARASYMPATHETIC PREDOMINANCE AFTER 1 MONTH PRACTICE OF YOGA. 2016 8 2409 38 YOGA AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) HAS BEEN USED AS A PROXY FOR HEALTH AND FITNESS AND INDICATOR OF AUTONOMIC REGULATION AND THEREFORE, APPEARS WELL PLACED TO ASSESS THE CHANGES OCCURRING WITH MIND.-BODY PRACTICES THAT FACILITATE AUTONOMIC BALANCE. WHILE MANY STUDIES SUGGEST THAT YOGA INFLUENCES HRV, SUCH STUDIES HAVE NOT BEEN SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEWED. WE AIMED TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW ALL PUBLISHED PAPERS THAT REPORT ON YOGA PRACTICES AND HRV. A COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH OF MULTIPLE DATABASES WAS CONDUCTED AND ALL STUDIES THAT REPORTED A MEASURE OF HRV ASSOCIATED WITH ANY YOGA PRACTICE WERE INCLUDED. STUDIES WERE CATEGORIZED BY THE STUDY DESIGN AND TYPE OF YOGA PRACTICE. A TOTAL OF 59 STUDIES WERE REVIEWED INVOLVING A TOTAL OF 2358 PARTICIPANTS. MOST STUDIES WERE PERFORMED IN INDIA ON RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBERS OF HEALTHY MALE YOGA PRACTITIONERS DURING A SINGLE LABORATORY SESSION. OF THE REVIEWED STUDIES, 15 WERE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH 6 HAVING A JADAD SCORE OF 3. THE REVIEWED STUDIES SUGGEST THAT YOGA CAN AFFECT CARDIAC AUTONOMIC REGULATION WITH INCREASED HRV AND VAGAL DOMINANCE DURING YOGA PRACTICES. REGULAR YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE ALSO FOUND TO HAVE INCREASED VAGAL TONE AT REST COMPARED TO NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS. IT IS PREMATURE TO DRAW ANY FIRM CONCLUSIONS ABOUT YOGA AND HRV AS MOST STUDIES WERE OF POOR QUALITY, WITH SMALL SAMPLE SIZES AND INSUFFICIENT REPORTING OF STUDY DESIGN AND STATISTICAL METHODS. RIGOROUS STUDIES WITH DETAILED REPORTING OF YOGA PRACTICES AND ANY CORRESPONDING CHANGES IN RESPIRATION ARE REQUIRED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON HRV. 2016 9 436 26 CARDIORESPIRATORY AND METABOLIC CHANGES DURING YOGA SESSIONS: THE EFFECTS OF RESPIRATORY EXERCISES AND MEDITATION PRACTICES. THE NOVELTY OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE CHANGES IN CARDIORESPIRATORY AND METABOLIC INTENSITY BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE PRACTICE OF PRANAYAMAS (BREATHING EXERCISES OF YOGA) AND MEDITATION DURING THE SAME HATHA-YOGA SESSION. THE TECHNIQUE APPLIED WAS THE ONE ADVOCATED BY THE HATHA-YOGA SYSTEM. NINE YOGA INSTRUCTORS-FIVE FEMALES AND FOUR MALES, MEAN AGE OF 44+/-11, 6, WERE SUBJECTED TO ANALYSIS OF THE GASES EXPIRED DURING THREE DISTINCT PERIODS OF 30 MIN: REST, RESPIRATORY EXERCISES AND MEDITATIVE PRACTICE. A METABOLIC OPEN CIRCUIT COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM WAS APPLIED (VO2000, MEDGRAPHICS-USA). THE OXYGEN UPTAKE (VO(2)) AND THE CARBON DIOXIDE OUTPUT (VCO(2)) WERE STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT (P 1.5 MMHG. 2020