1 2523 106 YOGA DURING PREGNANCY: A REVIEW. THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW ARTICLE IS TO EVALUATE THE PERIPARTUM OUTCOMES OF YOGA DURING PREGNANCY, INCLUDING THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD AND LACTATION. THE PUBMED DATABASE WAS ANALYZED FROM JANUARY 1970 TO JANUARY 2011. WE IDENTIFIED FIVE PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES (N = 575) AND THREE RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS (RCTS; N = 298), WHICH WERE ANALYZED SEPARATELY. THE NONRANDOMIZED TRIALS INDICATED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN RATES OF PRETERM LABOR (P < 0.0006), INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RETARDATION (P <0.003), LOW BIRTH WEIGHT (P < 0.01), PREGNANCY DISCOMFORTS (P = 0.01), AND PERCEIVED SLEEP DISTURBANCES (P = 0.03) IN THOSE WHO PRACTICED YOGA DURING PREGNANCY. RESULTS OF THE RCTS INDICATED THAT DOING YOGA DURING PREGNANCY CAN SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER PAIN AND DISCOMFORT (P < 0.05) AND PERCEIVED STRESS (P = 0.001) AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN PHYSICAL DOMAINS (P = 0.001). ALL THREE RCTS WERE POORLY COMPLIANT WITH THE CONSOLIDATED STANDARD OF REPORTING TRIALS STATEMENT. WHILE AWAITING AN APPROPRIATELY DESIGNED RCT TO DETERMINE THE BENEFITS OF YOGA DURING PREGNANCY, IT REMAINS A VIABLE EXERCISE OPTION. 2012 2 1040 38 EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION DURING PREGNANCY: A REVIEW FOR CURRENT STATUS. OBJECTIVES: THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO REVIEW ALL RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS (RCTS) THAT HAVE LOOKED AT THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PREGNANCY, AND TO PRESENT THEIR EVIDENCE ON THE SPECIFIC WAYS IN WHICH PREGNANT WOMEN, AND THEIR INFANTS CAN BENEFIT FROM YOGA INTERVENTION. THE PURPOSE IS ALSO TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA INTERVENTION DURING PREGNANCY IS MORE BENEFICIAL THAN OTHER PHYSICAL EXERCISES. METHODS: FOUR DATABASES WERE SEARCHED USING THE TERMS "YOGA AND (PREGNANCY OR PREGNANT OR PRENATAL OR POSTNATAL OR POSTPARTUM)." DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FROM JANUARY 2004 TO FEBRUARY 2014. RESULTS: TEN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE EVALUATED. THE FINDINGS CONSISTENTLY INDICATE THAT YOGA INTERVENTION PRESENTED WITH LOWER INCIDENCES OF PRENATAL DISORDERS (P 50% OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE SCORE. EFFECT SIZES (COHEN'S D) WERE CALCULATED FOR OUTCOMES STUDIED IN MORE THAN THREE STUDIES AMONG PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER USING MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF POST-TEST SCORES OF THE INTERVENTION AND CONTROL GROUPS. RESULTS: SIXTEEN PUBLICATIONS OF 13 RCTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA, OF WHICH ONE INCLUDED PATIENTS WITH LYMPHOMAS AND THE OTHERS FOCUSED ON PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER. THE MEDIAN QUALITY SCORE WAS 67% (RANGE: 22-89%). THE INCLUDED STUDIES EVALUATED 23 PHYSICAL AND 20 PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES. OF THE OUTCOMES STUDIED IN MORE THAN THREE STUDIES AMONG PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER, WE FOUND LARGE REDUCTIONS IN DISTRESS, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION (D = -0.69 TO -0.75), MODERATE REDUCTIONS IN FATIGUE (D = -0.51), MODERATE INCREASES IN GENERAL QUALITY OF LIFE, EMOTIONAL FUNCTION AND SOCIAL FUNCTION (D = 0.33 TO 0.49), AND A SMALL INCREASE IN FUNCTIONAL WELL-BEING (D = 0.31). EFFECTS ON PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND SLEEP WERE SMALL AND NOT SIGNIFICANT. CONCLUSION: YOGA APPEARED TO BE A FEASIBLE INTERVENTION AND BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON SEVERAL PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SYMPTOMS WERE REPORTED. IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER, EFFECT SIZE ON FUNCTIONAL WELL-BEING WAS SMALL, AND THEY WERE MODERATE TO LARGE FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL OUTCOMES. 2012 15 1077 30 EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS META-ANALYSIS WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. DESIGN: A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH OF PUBMED, EMBASE, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, THE CHINESE BIOMEDICAL LITERATURE DATABASE, AND THE CHINESE DIGITAL JOURNALS FULL-TEXT DATABASE WAS CARRIED OUT. RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS (RCTS) EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA, VERSUS A CONTROL GROUP RECEIVING NO INTERVENTION, ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTIONING AND QOL IN WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER WERE INCLUDED. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF INCLUDED RCTS WAS ASSESSED ACCORDING TO THE COCHRANE HANDBOOK FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS OF INTERVENTIONS 5.0.1, AND DATA WERE ANALYZED USING THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION'S REVIEW MANAGER 5.1. RESULTS: SIX (6) STUDIES INVOLVING 382 PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED. THE META-ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT YOGA CAN IMPROVE QOL FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT FAVORING YOGA FOR THE OUTCOME OF QOL WAS FOUND (STANDARD MEAN DIFFERENCE=0.27, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [0.02, 0.52], P=0.03). ALTHOUGH THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION OUTCOMES--SUCH AS ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, DISTRESS AND SLEEP--WERE IN THE EXPECTED DIRECTION, THESE EFFECTS WERE NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P>0.05). FATIGUE SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: THE PRESENT DATA PROVIDED LITTLE INDICATION OF HOW EFFECTIVE YOGA MIGHT BE WHEN THEY WERE APPLIED BY WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER EXCEPT FOR MILDLY EFFECTIVE IN QOL IMPROVEMENT. THE FINDINGS WERE BASED ON A SMALL BODY OF EVIDENCE IN WHICH METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY WAS NOT HIGH. FURTHER WELL-DESIGNED RCTS WITH LARGE SAMPLE SIZE ARE NEEDED TO CLARIFY THE UTILITY OF YOGA PRACTICE FOR THIS POPULATION. 2012 16 106 17 A PILOT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL COMPARING PRENATAL YOGA TO PERINATAL HEALTH EDUCATION FOR ANTENATAL DEPRESSION. WE CONDUCTED A PILOT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT) COMPARING A PRENATAL YOGA INTERVENTION TO PERINATAL-FOCUSED HEALTH EDUCATION IN PREGNANT WOMEN WITH DEPRESSION. FINDINGS DOCUMENT ACCEPTABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF THE YOGA INTERVENTION: NO YOGA-RELATED INJURIES WERE OBSERVED, INSTRUCTORS SHOWED FIDELITY TO THE YOGA MANUAL, AND WOMEN RATED INTERVENTIONS AS ACCEPTABLE. ALTHOUGH IMPROVEMENTS IN DEPRESSION WERE NOT STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT BETWEEN GROUPS, THEY FAVORED YOGA. THIS STUDY PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR A LARGER SCALE RCT EXAMINING PRENATAL YOGA TO IMPROVE MOOD DURING PREGNANCY. 2016 17 2592 31 YOGA FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT OPTION FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE LITERATURE USING 14 DATABASES FROM THEIR INCEPTION TO JULY 2008 AND INCLUDED ALL TYPES OF CLINICAL STUDIES REGARDLESS OF THEIR DESIGN. THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF ALL STUDIES WAS ASSESSED USING A MODIFIED JADAD SCORE. RESULTS: SEVEN STUDIES MET OUR INCLUSION CRITERIA. TWO RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS COMPARED THE EFFECTS OF YOGA WITH THOSE OF WALKING OR PHYSICAL EXERCISE. THE META-ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA FAILED TO SHOW SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF YOGA ON MENOPAUSAL COMPLAINTS INCLUDING PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOMATIC, AND VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS. TWO RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS FOUND NO EFFECTS OF YOGA ON TOTAL MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS COMPARED WITH WAIT-LIST CONTROL OR NO TREATMENT. THE REMAINING STUDIES WERE EITHER NON-RANDOMIZED (N = 1) OR UNCONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS (N = 3). THEY REPORTED FAVORABLE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. THESE DATA COLLECTIVELY SHOW THAT THE RESULTS OF RIGOROUS STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA FOR MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS ARE UNCONVINCING. CONCLUSION: THE EVIDENCE IS INSUFFICIENT TO SUGGEST THAT YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION FOR MENOPAUSE. FURTHER RESEARCH IS REQUIRED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THERE ARE SPECIFIC BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR TREATING MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS. 2009 18 2607 33 YOGA FOR PRENATAL DEPRESSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: PRENATAL DEPRESSION CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF BOTH MOTHER AND FETUS. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PRENATAL DEPRESSION. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) WAS CONDUCTED BY SEARCHING PUBMED, EMBASE, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY AND PSYCINFO FROM ALL RETRIEVED ARTICLES DESCRIBING SUCH TRIALS UP TO JULY 2014. RESULTS: SIX RCTS WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE SYSTEMATIC SEARCH. THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 375 PREGNANT WOMEN, MOST OF WHOM WERE BETWEEN 20 AND 40 YEARS OF AGE. THE DIAGNOSES OF DEPRESSION WERE DETERMINED BY THEIR SCORES ON STRUCTURED CLINICAL INTERVIEW FOR DSM-IV AND THE CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES DEPRESSION SCALE. WHEN COMPARED WITH COMPARISON GROUPS (E.G., STANDARD PRENATAL CARE, STANDARD ANTENATAL EXERCISES, SOCIAL SUPPORT, ETC.), THE LEVEL OF DEPRESSION STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN YOGA GROUPS (STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE [SMD], -0.59; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI], -0.94 TO -0.25; P = 0.0007). ONE SUBGROUP ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT BOTH THE LEVELS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN PRENATALLY DEPRESSED WOMEN (SMD, -0.46; CI, -0.90 TO -0.03; P = 0.04) AND NON-DEPRESSED WOMEN (SMD, -0.87; CI, -1.22 TO -0.52; P < 0.00001) WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN YOGA GROUP THAN THAT IN CONTROL GROUP. THERE WERE TWO KINDS OF YOGA: THE PHYSICAL-EXERCISE-BASED YOGA AND INTEGRATED YOGA, WHICH, BESIDES PHYSICAL EXERCISES, INCLUDED PRANAYAMA, MEDITATION OR DEEP RELAXATION. THEREFORE, THE OTHER SUBGROUP ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED TO ESTIMATE EFFECTS OF THE TWO KINDS OF YOGA ON PRENATAL DEPRESSION. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE LEVEL OF DEPRESSION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN THE INTEGRATED YOGA GROUP (SMD, -0.79; CI, -1.07 TO -0.51; P < 0.00001) BUT NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN PHYSICAL-EXERCISE-BASED YOGA GROUP (SMD, -0.41; CI, -1.01 TO -0.18; P = 0.17). CONCLUSIONS: PRENATAL YOGA INTERVENTION IN PREGNANT WOMEN MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN PARTLY REDUCING DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. 2015 19 2742 28 YOGA PRACTICE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE II DIABETES MELLITUS IN ADULTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. THE EFFECT OF PRACTICING YOGA FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE II DIABETES WAS ASSESSED IN THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW THROUGH SEARCHING RELATED ELECTRONIC DATABASES AND THE GREY LITERATURE TO THE END OF MAY 2007 USING OVID. ALL RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA PRACTICE WITH OTHER TYPE OF INTERVENTION OR WITH REGULAR PRACTICE OR BOTH, WERE INCLUDED REGARDLESS OF LANGUAGE OR TYPE OF PUBLICATION. EACH STUDY WAS ASSESSED FOR QUALITY BY TWO INDEPENDENT REVIEWERS. MEAN DIFFERENCE WAS USED FOR SUMMARIZING THE EFFECT OF EACH STUDY OUTCOMES WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS. POOLING OF THE STUDIES DID NOT TAKE PLACE DUE TO THE WIDE CLINICAL VARIATION BETWEEN THE STUDIES. PUBLICATION BIAS WAS ASSESSED BY STATISTICAL METHODS. FIVE TRIALS WITH 363 PARTICIPANTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA WITH MEDIUM TO HIGH RISK OF BIAS AND DIFFERENT INTERVENTION CHARACTERISTICS. THE STUDIES' RESULTS SHOW IMPROVEMENT IN OUTCOMES AMONG PATIENTS WITH DIABETES TYPE II. THESE IMPROVEMENTS WERE MAINLY AMONG SHORT TERM OR IMMEDIATE DIABETES OUTCOMES AND NOT ALL WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. THE RESULTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE AND NOT SIGNIFICANT FOR THE LONG-TERM OUTCOMES. NO ADVERSE EFFECTS WERE REPORTED IN ANY OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES. SHORT-TERM BENEFITS FOR PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MAY BE ACHIEVED FROM PRACTICING YOGA. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED IN THIS AREA. FACTORS LIKE QUALITY OF THE TRIALS AND OTHER METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES SHOULD BE IMPROVED BY LARGE RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS WITH ALLOCATION CONCEALMENT TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON DIABETES TYPE II. A DEFINITIVE RECOMMENDATION FOR PHYSICIANS TO ENCOURAGE THEIR PATIENTS TO PRACTICE YOGA CANNOT BE REACHED AT PRESENT. 2010 20 2566 35 YOGA FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: CANCER AND ITS TREATMENT CAN LEAD TO A VARIETY OF PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CONCERNS IMPACTING ON THOSE AFFECTED, INCLUDING SUBCLINICAL OR CLINICAL DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, WHICH IN TURN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON WELLBEING, QUALITY OF LIFE AND SURVIVAL. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ON SELF-REPORTED DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. METHOD: SIX DATABASES WERE SEARCHED TO IDENTIFY RELEVANT STUDIES. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROCEDURES WERE FOLLOWED INCLUDING A QUALITY ASSESSMENT. META-ANALYSIS OF SUITABLE STUDIES WAS CONDUCTED. RESULTS: 26 STUDIES FROM OUR SEARCH CRITERIA WERE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION FOR DEPRESSIVE AND 16 FOR ANXIETY SYMPTOMS. META-ANALYSES REVEALED EVIDENCE FOR SIGNIFICANT MEDIUM EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS (N = 1,486, G = -0.419, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = -0.558 TO -0.281, P < 0.001) AND ANXIETY (N = 977, G = -0.347, 95% CI = -0.473 TO -0.221, P < 0.001) COMPARED TO CONTROLS. SUBGROUP ANALYSES FOR DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS REVEALED SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS FOR ALL ANALYSES PERFORMED (TYPE OF CANCER, TYPE OF CONTROL, TREATMENT STATUS, DURATION OF INTERVENTION OR FREQUENCY OF YOGA SESSIONS), WITH EFFECT SIZES BEING COMPARABLE BETWEEN SUBGROUPS. SIMILAR FINDINGS WERE FOUND FOR ANXIETY SYMPTOMS EXCEPT FOR TREATMENT STATUS, WHERE THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND WHEN YOGA WAS DELIVERED DURING ACTIVE TREATMENT. CONCLUSIONS: THIS REVIEW PROVIDES EVIDENCE THAT IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER, YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AMELIORATION OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS AND THEREFORE A PROMISING THERAPEUTIC MODALITY FOR THEIR MANAGEMENT. HOWEVER, THE POTENTIAL FOR RISK OF BIAS TOGETHER WITH CONTROL GROUP DESIGN CHALLENGES MEANS THE RESULTS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION. 2021