1  451 165 CHANGES IN FATIGUE, AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS, AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS DUE TO SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME. BACKGROUND: IN A PREVIOUS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, WE FOUND THAT SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA IMPROVES FATIGUE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS) WHO ARE RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL THERAPY. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE MECHANISMS BEHIND THIS FINDING, FOCUSING ON THE SHORT-TERM FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECT, BY COMPARING AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTION AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS BEFORE AND AFTER A SESSION OF ISOMETRIC YOGA. METHODS: FIFTEEN PATIENTS WITH CFS WHO REMAINED SYMPTOMATIC DESPITE AT LEAST 6 MONTHS OF CONVENTIONAL THERAPY PRACTICED SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA (BIWEEKLY 20 MIN PRACTICE WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR AND DAILY HOME PRACTICE) FOR EIGHT WEEKS. ACUTE EFFECTS OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE, AUTONOMIC FUNCTION, AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS WERE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE FINAL SESSION WITH AN INSTRUCTOR. THE EFFECT OF A SINGLE SESSION OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WAS ASSESSED BY THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATUS (POMS) QUESTIONNAIRE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER THE SESSION. AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTION (HEART RATE (HR) VARIABILITY) AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS (CORTISOL, DHEA-S, TNF-ALPHA, IL-6, IFN-GAMMA, IFN-ALPHA, PROLACTIN, CARNITINE, TGF-BETA1, BDNF, MHPG, AND HVA) WERE COMPARED BEFORE AND AFTER THE SESSION. RESULTS: SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE POMS FATIGUE SCORE (P < 0.01) AND INCREASED THE VIGOR SCORE (P < 0.01). IT ALSO REDUCED HR (P < 0.05) AND INCREASED THE HIGH FREQUENCY POWER (P < 0.05) OF HR VARIABILITY. SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA INCREASED SERUM LEVELS OF DHEA-S (P < 0.05), REDUCED LEVELS OF CORTISOL (P < 0.05) AND TNF-ALPHA (P < 0.05), AND HAD A TENDENCY TO REDUCE SERUM LEVELS OF PROLACTIN (P < 0.1). DECREASES IN FATIGUE SCORES CORRELATED WITH CHANGES IN PLASMA LEVELS OF TGF-BETA1 AND BDNF. IN CONTRAST, INCREASED VIGOR POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH HVA. CONCLUSIONS: A SINGLE SESSION OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA REDUCED FATIGUE AND INCREASED VIGOR IN PATIENTS WITH CFS. YOGA ALSO INCREASED VAGAL NERVE FUNCTION AND CHANGED BLOOD BIOMARKERS IN A PATTERN THAT SUGGESTED ANTI-STRESS AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS. THESE CHANGES APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO THE SHORT-TERM FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECT OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH CFS. FURTHERMORE, DOPAMINERGIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVATION MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA-INDUCED INCREASES IN ENERGY IN THIS PATIENT POPULATION. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) UMIN000009646. REGISTERED DEC 27, 2012.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                  
2 2250 111 THE LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA ON BLOOD BIOMARKERS, AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME: A PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: IN A PREVIOUS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, WE FOUND THAT PRACTICING SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA REGULARLY FOR 2 MONTHS IMPROVED THE FATIGUE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS) WHO ARE RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL THERAPY. THE AIM OF THIS PILOT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBLE MECHANISMS BEHIND THIS FINDING BY COMPARING BLOOD BIOMARKERS, AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INDICES BEFORE VERSUS AFTER AN INTERVENTION PERIOD OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA PRACTICE. METHODS: FIFTEEN PATIENTS WITH CFS WHO DID NOT SHOW SATISFACTORY IMPROVEMENTS AFTER AT LEAST 6 MONTHS OF CONVENTIONAL THERAPY PRACTICED SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA (BIWEEKLY 20-MIN SESSIONS WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR AND DAILY PRACTICE AT HOME) FOR 2 MONTHS. THE LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE, BLOOD BIOMARKERS, AUTONOMIC FUNCTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE WERE INVESTIGATED BY COMPARING THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION PERIOD: FATIGUE SEVERITY WAS ASSESSED BY THE CHALDER FATIGUE SCALE (FS) SCORE. LEVELS OF THE BLOOD BIOMARKERS CORTISOL, DHEA-S, TNF-ALPHA, IL-6, PROLACTIN, CARNITINE, TGF-BETA1, BDNF, MHPG, HVA, AND ALPHA-MSH WERE MEASURED. THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTIONS ASSESSED WERE HEART RATE (HR) AND HR VARIABILITY. PSYCHOLOGICAL INDICES INCLUDED THE 20-ITEM TORONTO ALEXITHYMIA SCALE (TAS-20) AND THE HOSPITAL ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCALE (HADS). RESULTS: PRACTICING SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA FOR 2 MONTHS RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN THE CHALDER FS (P = 0.002) AND HADS-DEPRESSION (P = 0.02) SCORES. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN ANY OTHER PARAMETER EVALUATED. THE CHANGE IN CHALDER FS SCORE WAS NOT CORRELATED WITH THE CHANGE IN HADS-DEPRESSION SCORE. HOWEVER, THIS CHANGE WAS POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH CHANGES IN THE SERUM TNF-ALPHA LEVELS (P = 0.048), THE HIGH FREQUENCY COMPONENT OF HR VARIABILITY (P = 0.042), AND TAS-20 SCORES (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: REGULAR PRACTICE OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA FOR 2 MONTHS REDUCED THE FATIGUE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOM SCORES OF PATIENTS WITH CFS WITHOUT AFFECTING ANY OTHER PARAMETERS WE INVESTIGATED. THIS STUDY FAILED TO IDENTIFY THE MARKERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LONGITUDINAL FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECT OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA. HOWEVER, CONSIDERING THAT THE REDUCED FATIGUE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED SERUM TNF-ALPHA LEVEL AND TAS-20 SCORES, FATIGUE IMPROVEMENT MIGHT BE RELATED TO REDUCED INFLAMMATION AND IMPROVED ALEXITHYMIA IN THESE PATIENTS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) UMIN000009646. REGISTERED DEC 27, 2012.	2019	

3 1523  75 ISOMETRIC YOGA IMPROVES THE FATIGUE AND PAIN OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME WHO ARE RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL THERAPY: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS) OFTEN COMPLAIN OF PERSISTENT FATIGUE EVEN AFTER CONVENTIONAL THERAPIES SUCH AS PHARMACOTHERAPY, COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY, OR GRADED EXERCISE THERAPY. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE IN A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL THE FEASIBILITY AND EFFICACY OF ISOMETRIC YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH CFS WHO ARE RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS. METHODS: THIS TRIAL ENROLLED 30 PATIENTS WITH CFS WHO DID NOT HAVE SATISFACTORY IMPROVEMENT AFTER RECEIVING CONVENTIONAL THERAPY FOR AT LEAST SIX MONTHS. THEY WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS AND WERE TREATED WITH EITHER CONVENTIONAL PHARMACOTHERAPY (CONTROL GROUP, N = 15) OR CONVENTIONAL THERAPY TOGETHER WITH ISOMETRIC YOGA PRACTICE THAT CONSISTED OF BIWEEKLY, 20-MINUTE SESSIONS WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR AND DAILY IN-HOME SESSIONS (YOGA GROUP, N = 15) FOR APPROXIMATELY TWO MONTHS. THE SHORT-TERM EFFECT OF ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WAS ASSESSED BY ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATUS (POMS) QUESTIONNAIRE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER THE FINAL 20-MINUTE SESSION WITH THE INSTRUCTOR. THE LONG-TERM EFFECT OF ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WAS ASSESSED BY ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHALDER'S FATIGUE SCALE (FS) QUESTIONNAIRE TO BOTH GROUPS BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. ADVERSE EVENTS AND CHANGES IN SUBJECTIVE SYMPTOMS WERE RECORDED FOR SUBJECTS IN THE YOGA GROUP. RESULTS: ALL SUBJECTS COMPLETED THE INTERVENTION. THE MEAN POMS FATIGUE SCORE DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY (FROM 21.9 +/- 7.7 TO 13.8 +/- 6.7, P < 0.001) AFTER A YOGA SESSION. THE CHALDER'S FS SCORE DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY (FROM 25.9 +/- 6.1 TO 19.2 +/- 7.5, P = 0.002) IN THE YOGA GROUP, BUT NOT IN THE CONTROL GROUP. IN ADDITION TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF FATIGUE, TWO PATIENTS WITH CFS AND FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME IN THE YOGA GROUP ALSO REPORTED PAIN RELIEF. FURTHERMORE, MANY SUBJECTS REPORTED THAT THEIR BODIES BECAME WARMER AND LIGHTER AFTER PRACTICING ISOMETRIC YOGA. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS IN THE YOGA GROUP, TWO PATIENTS COMPLAINED OF TIREDNESS AND ONE OF DIZZINESS AFTER THE FIRST YOGA SESSION WITH THE INSTRUCTOR. CONCLUSIONS: ISOMETRIC YOGA AS AN ADD-ON THERAPY IS BOTH FEASIBLE AND SUCCESSFUL AT RELIEVING THE FATIGUE AND PAIN OF A SUBSET OF THERAPY-RESISTANT PATIENTS WITH CFS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) UMIN000009646.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
4  450  71 CHANGES IN CIRCULATING MICRORNA AFTER RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA PRACTICE BY PATIENTS WITH MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS/CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME: AN EXPLORATIVE PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS A REPRESENTATIVE MIND-BODY THERAPY. OUR PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT ISOMETRIC YOGA (I.E. YOGA PROGRAMS THAT WE DEVELOPED SO INDIVIDUALS CAN PRACTICE YOGA POSES WITH A SELF-ADJUSTABLE ISOMETRIC LOAD) REDUCES THE FATIGUE OF PATIENTS WITH MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS/CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (ME/CFS); HOWEVER, THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS REMAIN UNCLEAR. SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE SUGGESTED THAT THE MICRO-RIBONUCLEIC ACID (MIRNA) EXPRESSION OF ME/CFS PATIENTS IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF HEALTHY SUBJECTS. HOWEVER, IT HAS NOT TO DATE BEEN DETERMINED IF THE PRACTICE OF ISOMETRIC YOGA CAN AFFECT MIRNA EXPRESSION. THEREFORE, WE SOUGHT TO INVESTIGATE IF ISOMETRIC YOGA IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF SERUM MIRNA OF PATIENTS WITH ME/CFS. METHODS: THE STUDY INCLUDED NINE PATIENTS WITH ME/CFS WHO FAILED TO SHOW SATISFACTORY IMPROVEMENT AFTER AT LEAST 6 MONTHS OF TREATMENT ADMINISTERED AT OUR HOSPITAL. PATIENTS PRACTICED RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA FOR 3 MONTHS; THEY MET WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR EVERY 2 TO 4 WEEKS AND PARTICIPATED IN DAILY IN-HOME SESSIONS. THE EFFECT OF RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WAS ASSESSED BY COMPARING PRE- AND POST-INTERVENTION SCORES ON THE JAPANESE VERSION OF THE 11-ITEM CHALDER FATIGUE SCALE (CFQ 11). PATIENT BLOOD SAMPLES WERE DRAWN PRE- AND POST-INTERVENTION, JUST PRIOR TO PRACTICING RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA WITH AN INSTRUCTOR. THE SERUM WAS USED FOR MIRNA ARRAY ANALYSIS WITH KNOWN HUMAN MIRNAS. RESULTS: THE AVERAGE CFQ 11 SCORE DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY (FROM 25.3 +/- 5.5 TO 17.0 +/- 5.8, P < 0.0001) AFTER PRACTICING RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA FOR 3 MONTHS. THE MIRNA MICROARRAY ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT FOUR MIRNAS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY UPREGULATED, AND 42 WERE DOWNREGULATED AFTER THE INTERVENTION PERIOD. CONCLUSIONS: THIS EXPLORATIVE PILOT STUDY IS THE FIRST TO DEMONSTRATE CHANGES IN THE SERUM LEVELS OF SEVERAL MIRNAS AFTER REGULAR PRACTICE OF RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA. THESE MIRNAS MIGHT REPRESENT BIOMARKERS FOR THE FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECTS OF ISOMETRIC YOGA OF PATIENTS WITH ME/CFS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) 000023472. REGISTERED AUG 4, 2016.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
5  610  61 DEVELOPMENT OF A RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA PROGRAM FOR PATIENTS WITH SEVERE CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME/MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS: A PILOT STUDY TO ASSESS FEASIBILITY AND EFFICACY. BACKGROUND: OUR PREVIOUS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL DEMONSTRATED THAT ISOMETRIC YOGA IN A SITTING POSITION REDUCES FATIGUE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME/MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS (CFS/ME). HOWEVER, SOME PATIENTS EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES SITTING OR PRACTICING ISOMETRIC YOGA IN A SITTING POSITION FOR LONG PERIODS. TO DATE, THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS FOR PATIENTS WITH SEVERE SYMPTOMS HAVE NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED. THEREFORE, WE DEVELOPED A RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA PROGRAM, WHICH TAKES APPROXIMATELY 20 MIN TO COMPLETE, DESIGNED TO REDUCE FATIGUE IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE CFS/ME. THE AIM OF THIS PILOT STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY, SAFETY, AND USEFULNESS OF THIS PROGRAM. METHODS: THIS PILOT STUDY INCLUDED 12 ADULT PATIENTS WITH CFS/ME. SIX PATIENTS WERE RELUCTANT TO PRACTICE ISOMETRIC YOGA IN A SITTING POSITION BECAUSE OF THE SEVERITY OF THEIR FATIGUE (GROUP 1). THE REMAINING SIX PATIENTS HAD PREVIOUSLY PRACTICED ISOMETRIC YOGA IN A SITTING POSITION (GROUP 2). FOR 3 MONTHS, THE PATIENTS OF BOTH GROUPS PRACTICED RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA EVERY 2 TO 4 WEEKS WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR AND AT HOME ON OTHER DAYS IF THEY COULD. THE SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WERE ASSESSED USING THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATUS (POMS) QUESTIONNAIRE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER THEIR FINAL SESSION WITH THE YOGA INSTRUCTOR. THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WERE ASSESSED USING THE CHALDER FATIGUE SCALE (FS) QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION PERIOD. ADVERSE EVENTS, SATISFACTION WITH THE PROGRAM, AND PREFERENCE OF YOGA POSITION (SITTING OR RECUMBENT) WERE ALSO RECORDED. RESULTS: ALL SUBJECTS COMPLETED THE INTERVENTION. IN BOTH GROUPS, THE POMS FATIGUE SCORE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED AFTER PRACTICING THE 20-MIN YOGA PROGRAM AND THE CHALDER FS SCORE WAS DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER THE 3-MONTH INTERVENTION PERIOD. THERE WERE NO SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS. ALL SUBJECTS IN GROUP 2 PREFERRED THE RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA PROGRAM OVER A SITTING YOGA PROGRAM. CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY SUGGESTS THAT RECUMBENT ISOMETRIC YOGA IS A FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH CFS/ME, EVEN FOR PATIENTS WHO EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY PRACTICING ISOMETRIC YOGA IN THE SITTING POSITION.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
6 2847  46 YOGA, MEDITATION AND MIND-BODY HEALTH: INCREASED BDNF, CORTISOL AWAKENING RESPONSE, AND ALTERED INFLAMMATORY MARKER EXPRESSION AFTER A 3-MONTH YOGA AND MEDITATION RETREAT. THIRTY-EIGHT INDIVIDUALS (MEAN AGE: 34.8 YEARS OLD) PARTICIPATING IN A 3-MONTH YOGA AND MEDITATION RETREAT WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION FOR PSYCHOMETRIC MEASURES, BRAIN DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (BDNF), CIRCADIAN SALIVARY CORTISOL LEVELS, AND PRO- AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES. PARTICIPATION IN THE RETREAT WAS FOUND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASES IN SELF-REPORTED ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AS WELL AS INCREASES IN MINDFULNESS. AS HYPOTHESIZED, INCREASES IN THE PLASMA LEVELS OF BDNF AND INCREASES IN THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CORTISOL AWAKENING RESPONSE (CAR) WERE ALSO OBSERVED. THE NORMALIZED CHANGE IN BDNF LEVELS WAS INVERSELY CORRELATED WITH BSI-18 ANXIETY SCORES AT BOTH THE PRE-RETREAT (R = 0.40, P < 0.05) AND POST-RETREAT (R = 0.52, P < 0.005) SUCH THAT THOSE WITH GREATER ANXIETY SCORES TENDED TO EXHIBIT SMALLER PRE- TO POST-RETREAT INCREASES IN PLASMA BDNF LEVELS. IN LINE WITH A HYPOTHESIZED DECREASE IN INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES RESULTING FROM THE YOGA AND MEDITATION PRACTICES, WE FOUND THAT THE PLASMA LEVEL OF THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE INTERLEUKIN-10 WAS INCREASED AND THE PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE INTERLEUKIN-12 WAS REDUCED AFTER THE RETREAT. CONTRARY TO OUR INITIAL HYPOTHESES, PLASMA LEVELS OF OTHER PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, INCLUDING INTERFERON GAMMA (IFN-GAMMA), TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF-ALPHA), INTERLEUKIN-1BETA (IL-1BETA), INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6), AND INTERLEUKIN-8 (IL-8) WERE INCREASED AFTER THE RETREAT. GIVEN EVIDENCE FROM PREVIOUS STUDIES OF THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF MEDITATIVE PRACTICES ON MENTAL FITNESS, AUTONOMIC HOMEOSTASIS AND INFLAMMATORY STATUS, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THESE FINDINGS ARE RELATED TO THE MEDITATIVE PRACTICES THROUGHOUT THE RETREAT; HOWEVER, SOME OF THE OBSERVED CHANGES MAY ALSO BE RELATED TO OTHER ASPECTS OF THE RETREAT SUCH AS PHYSICAL EXERCISE-RELATED COMPONENTS OF THE YOGA PRACTICE AND DIET. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE PATTERNS OF CHANGE OBSERVED HERE REFLECT MIND-BODY INTEGRATION AND WELL-BEING. THE INCREASED BDNF LEVELS OBSERVED IS A POTENTIAL MEDIATOR BETWEEN MEDITATIVE PRACTICES AND BRAIN HEALTH, THE INCREASED CAR IS LIKELY A REFLECTION OF INCREASED DYNAMIC PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL, AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE DUAL ENHANCEMENT OF PRO- AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE CHANGES TO HEALTHY IMMUNOLOGIC FUNCTIONING IS DISCUSSED.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
7  881  38 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IN EMPLOYEES OF SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRIES. OBJECTIVE: THE PRESENT STUDY INTENDS TO SEE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICES ON LIPID PROFILE, INTERLEUKIN (IL)-6, TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF)-ALPHA, AND HIGH-SENSITIVITY-C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (HS-CRP) AMONG APPARENTLY HEALTHY ADULTS EXPOSED TO OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IN THE PRESENT STUDY, 48 PARTICIPANTS AGED 30-58 YEARS (41.5 +/- 5.2) WHO WERE EXPOSED TO OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS, THAT IS, EXPERIMENTAL AND WAIT-LIST CONTROL. ALL THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED FOR LIPID PROFILE, IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, AND HS-CRP AT THE BASELINE AND AFTER COMPLETION OF 3 MONTHS OF YOGA TRAINING INTERVENTION. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP UNDERWENT YOGA TRAINING INTERVENTION FOR 1 H FOR 6 DAYS A WEEK FOR 3 MONTHS, WHEREAS CONTROL GROUP CONTINUED WITH THEIR DAILY ACTIVITIES EXCEPT YOGA TRAINING. DATA ANALYSIS WAS DONE USING STATISTICAL SOFTWARE SPSS VERSION 20.0. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING PAIRED T-TESTS AND INDEPENDENT T-TEST. RESULTS: THE RESULTS OF WITHIN GROUP COMPARISON REVEALED HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CHOLESTEROL (P < 0.001), HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (P < 0.001), LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (LDL)(P < 0.01), HS-CRP (P < 0.01), IL-6 (P < 0.001), AND TNF-ALPHA (P < 0.001) IN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP REVEALED SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CHOLESTEROL (P < 0.01), LDL (P < 0.05), IL-6 (P < 0.01), TNF-ALPHA (P < 0.01), AND HS-CRP (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: A YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION SEEMS TO BE A HIGHLY PROMISING ALTERNATIVE THERAPY WHICH FAVORABLY ALTERS INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND METABOLIC RISK FACTORS.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
8  683  49 EFFECT OF AN 8-WEEK YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION ON PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE AXIS, DISEASE ACTIVITY, AND PERCEIVED QUALITY OF LIFE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. VARIOUS EXTERNAL STRESSORS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES LEAD TO THE PROVOCATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES LIKE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA). THE INAPPROPRIATE IMMUNE RESPONSE FURTHER TRIGGERS THE CASCADE OF INFLAMMATORY CHANGES RESULTING IN PRECIPITATION OF SYMPTOMS AND HAMPERS QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL). THE UNDERLYING PSYCHO-SOMATIC COMPONENT OF THE DISEASE REQUIRES A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ITS TREATMENT DIMENSION RATHER THAN THE USE OF PHARMACOTHERAPY. THE APPLICABILITY OF MIND-BODY INTERVENTIONS HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL IN TODAY'S FAST-PACED LIFE. YOGA, A MIND-BODY TECHNIQUE, ALTERS THE MIND'S CAPACITY TO FACILITATE SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONING AT MULTIPLE ORGAN SYSTEM LEVELS. HENCE, WE CONDUCTED THIS STUDY TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF 8 WEEKS OF A YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION (YBLI) ON PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE MARKERS, GENE EXPRESSION PATTERNS, AND QOL IN RA PATIENTS ON ROUTINE MEDICAL THERAPY. A TOTAL OF 66 PATIENTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS: YOGA GROUP OR NON-YOGA GROUP AND WERE ASSESSED FOR A PANEL OF INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES (IL-6, IL-17A, TNF-ALPHA, AND TGF-BETA), MIND-BODY COMMUNICATIVE MARKERS (BDNF, DHEAS, BETA-ENDORPHIN, AND SIRTUIN) AND TRANSCRIPT LEVELS OF VARIOUS GENES (IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, NFKB1, TGF-BETA, AND CTLA4). WE ASSESSED DISEASE ACTIVITY AND QOL USING THE DAS28-ESR AND WHOQOL-BREF QUESTIONNAIRE, RESPECTIVELY. YOGA GROUP OBSERVED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LEVELS OF MARKERS, WHICH INFLUENCED THE PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE AXIS (P < 0.001) WITH AN ESTIMATED EFFECT SIZE FROM SMALL TO MEDIUM RANGE. IN THE YOGA GROUP, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DAS28-ESR (P < 0.001) AND IMPROVEMENT SEEN IN THE PHYSICAL HEALTH, PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS DOMAINS (P < 0.001) OF QOL, EXCEPT ENVIRONMENTAL (P > 0.05). THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED DOWNREGULATION OF IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, AND CTLA4 AND UPREGULATION OF TGF-BETA. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A DECREASE IN DISEASE ACTIVITY AFTER YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, THE ELEVATION OF MIND-BODY COMMUNICATIVE MARKERS, AND NORMALIZATION OF VARIOUS TRANSCRIPT LEVELS, WHICH IMPROVED QOL. THUS THE ADOPTION OF YBLI IMPROVES CLINICAL OUTCOME IN RA, AND DECREASES SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION BY ITS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE AXIS AND NORMALIZATION OF DYSREGULATED TRANSCRIPTS. THUS YBLI MAY BE USED FOR RA PATIENTS AS AN ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                            
9 2836  42 YOGA'S IMPACT ON INFLAMMATION, MOOD, AND FATIGUE IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. PURPOSE: TO EVALUATE YOGA'S IMPACT ON INFLAMMATION, MOOD, AND FATIGUE. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED 3-MONTH TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED WITH TWO POST-TREATMENT ASSESSMENTS OF 200 BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS ASSIGNED TO EITHER 12 WEEKS OF 90-MINUTE TWICE PER WEEK HATHA YOGA CLASSES OR A WAIT-LIST CONTROL. THE MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES WERE LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-STIMULATED PRODUCTION OF PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6), TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA), AND INTERLEUKIN-1BETA (IL-1BETA), AND SCORES ON THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL FATIGUE SYMPTOM INVENTORY-SHORT FORM (MFSI-SF), THE VITALITY SCALE FROM THE MEDICAL OUTCOMES STUDY 36-ITEM SHORT FORM (SF-36), AND THE CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES-DEPRESSION (CES-D) SCALE. RESULTS: IMMEDIATELY POST-TREATMENT, FATIGUE WAS NOT LOWER (P > .05) BUT VITALITY WAS HIGHER (P = .01) IN THE YOGA GROUP COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP. AT 3 MONTHS POST-TREATMENT, FATIGUE WAS LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUP (P = .002), VITALITY WAS HIGHER (P = .01), AND IL-6 (P = .027), TNF-ALPHA (P = .027), AND IL-1BETA (P = .037) WERE LOWER FOR YOGA PARTICIPANTS COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP. GROUPS DID NOT DIFFER ON DEPRESSION AT EITHER TIME (P > .2). PLANNED SECONDARY ANALYSES SHOWED THAT THE FREQUENCY OF YOGA PRACTICE HAD STRONGER ASSOCIATIONS WITH FATIGUE AT BOTH POST-TREATMENT VISITS (P = .019; P < .001), AS WELL AS VITALITY (P = .016; P = .0045), BUT NOT DEPRESSION (P > .05) THAN SIMPLE GROUP ASSIGNMENT; MORE FREQUENT PRACTICE PRODUCED LARGER CHANGES. AT 3 MONTHS POST-TREATMENT, INCREASING YOGA PRACTICE ALSO LED TO A DECREASE IN IL-6 (P = .01) AND IL-1BETA (P = .03) PRODUCTION BUT NOT IN TNF-ALPHA PRODUCTION (P > .05). CONCLUSION: CHRONIC INFLAMMATION MAY FUEL DECLINES IN PHYSICAL FUNCTION LEADING TO FRAILTY AND DISABILITY. IF YOGA DAMPENS OR LIMITS BOTH FATIGUE AND INFLAMMATION, THEN REGULAR PRACTICE COULD HAVE SUBSTANTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
10  859  35 EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON LEVELS OF INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AFTER MODERATE AND STRENUOUS EXERCISE. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE AND EXERCISE CHALLENGE ON TUMOUR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA), INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6) LEVELS AND LIPID PROFILE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN SUBJECTS PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. ONE HUNDRED AND NINE VOLUNTEERS (51 MALES AND 58 FEMALES) IN THE AGE GROUP OF 20 TO 60 YEARS, WHO PRACTICED YOGA REGULARLY FOR OVER FIVE YEARS FOR A PERIOD OF ONE HOUR DAILY, PERFORMED A BOUT OF MODERATE EXERCISE AND A BOUT OF STRENUOUS EXERCISE AS PER STANDARDIZED SHUTTLE WALK TEST PROTOCOL. ANTHROPOMETRICALLY MATCHED, AGE MATCHED AND GENDER MATCHED SUBJECTS, WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA (NON-YOGA GROUP) WERE CHOSEN AS CONTROLS (NON-YOGA, N=109). THE NON-YOGA GROUP ALSO PERFORMED SIMILAR EXERCISES. THE BLOOD SAMPLES OF BOTH THE GROUPS WERE COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXERCISES. TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 WAS ANALYSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXERCISE BY SANDWICH ELISA (ENZYME LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY). RESULTS: RESTING PLASMA TNF-ALPHA CONCENTRATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN NON-YOGA GROUP WHEN COMPARED TO YOGA GROUP (P<0.05). THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN TNF-ALPHA LEVELS IN BOTH THE GROUPS IN RESPONSE TO STRENUOUS EXERCISE. THERE WAS NO GENDER DIFFERENCE IN TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 LEVELS BEFORE AND AFTER EXERCISE IN YOGA AND NON-YOGA GROUPS. CONCLUSION: REGULAR PRACTICE OF YOGA LOWERS BASAL TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 LEVELS. IT ALSO REDUCES THE EXTENT OF INCREASE OF TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 TO A PHYSICAL CHALLENGE OF MODERATE EXERCISE AND STRENUOUS EXERCISE. THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT GENDER DIFFERENCE IN THE TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 LEVELS. REGULAR PRACTICE OF YOGA CAN PROTECT THE INDIVIDUAL AGAINST INFLAMMATORY DISEASES BY FAVOURABLY ALTERING PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE LEVELS.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
11  661  62 EFFECT OF 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING ON THE SOMATIZATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS, AND STRESS-RELATED BIOMARKERS OF HEALTHY WOMEN. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE PRACTICE OF YOGA REDUCES PERCEIVED STRESS AND NEGATIVE FEELINGS AND THAT IT IMPROVES PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS. OUR PREVIOUS STUDY ALSO SUGGESTED THAT LONG-TERM YOGA TRAINING IMPROVES STRESS-RELATED PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS SUCH AS ANXIETY AND ANGER. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE ON SOMATIZATION, THE MOST COMMON STRESS-RELATED PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS, AND STRESS-RELATED BIOMARKERS. WE PERFORMED A PROSPECTIVE, SINGLE ARM STUDY TO EXAMINE THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING ON SOMATIZATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS, AND STRESS-RELATED BIOMARKERS. METHODS: WE RECRUITED HEALTHY WOMEN WHO HAD NO EXPERIENCE WITH YOGA. THE DATA OF 24 PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE FOLLOWED DURING 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING WERE ANALYZED. SOMATIZATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING USING THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATE (POMS) AND THE SYMPTOM CHECKLIST-90-REVISED (SCL-90-R) QUESTIONNAIRES. URINARY 8-HYDROXYDEOXYGUANOSINE (8-OHDG), BIOPYRRIN, AND CORTISOL LEVELS WERE MEASURED AS STRESS-RELATED BIOMARKERS. THE WILCOXON SIGNED-RANK TEST WAS USED TO COMPARE THE STRESS-RELATED BIOMARKERS AND THE SCORES OF QUESTIONNAIRES BEFORE AND AFTER 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING. RESULTS: AFTER 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING, ALL NEGATIVE SUBSCALE SCORES (TENSION-ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, ANGER-HOSTILITY, FATIGUE, AND CONFUSION) FROM THE POMS AND SOMATIZATION, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND HOSTILITY FROM THE SCL-90-R WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED COMPARED WITH THOSE BEFORE STARTING YOGA TRAINING. CONTRARY TO OUR EXPECTATION, THE URINARY 8-OHDG CONCENTRATION AFTER 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE COMPARED WITH THAT BEFORE STARTING YOGA TRAINING. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN THE LEVELS OF URINARY BIOPYRRIN AND CORTISOL AFTER THE 12 WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING. CONCLUSIONS: YOGA TRAINING HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE THE SOMATIZATION SCORE AND THE SCORES RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH INDICATORS, SUCH AS ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, ANGER, AND FATIGUE. THE PRESENT FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT YOGA CAN IMPROVE SOMATIZATION AND MENTAL HEALTH STATUS AND HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF PSYCHOSOMATIC SYMPTOMS IN HEALTHY WOMEN. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) UMIN000007868.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
12 1967  36 SERUM CORTISOL AND BDNF IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION-EFFECT OF YOGA. DEPRESSION IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOW SERUM BRAIN DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (BDNF) AND ELEVATED LEVELS OF SERUM CORTISOL. YOGA PRACTICES HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH ANTIDEPRESSANT EFFECTS, INCREASE IN SERUM BDNF, AND REDUCTION IN SERUM CORTISOL. THIS STUDY EXAMINED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SERUM BDNF AND CORTISOL LEVELS IN DRUG-NAIVE PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION TREATED WITH ANTIDEPRESSANTS, YOGA THERAPY, AND BOTH. FIFTY-FOUR DRUG-NAIVE CONSENTING ADULT OUTPATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION (32 MALES) RECEIVED ANTIDEPRESSANTS ONLY (N = 16), YOGA THERAPY ONLY (N = 19), OR YOGA WITH ANTIDEPRESSANTS (N = 19). SERUM BDNF ANDCORTISOL LEVELS WERE OBTAINED BEFORE AND AFTER 3 MONTHS USING A SANDWICH ELISA METHOD. ONE-WAY ANOVA, CHI-SQUARE TEST, AND PEARSON'S CORRELATION TESTS WERE USED FOR ANALYSIS. THE GROUPS WERE COMPARABLE AT BASELINE ON MOST PARAMETERS. SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN DEPRESSION SCORES AND SERUM BDNF LEVELS, AND REDUCTION IN SERUM CORTISOL IN THE YOGA GROUPS, HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED IN PREVIOUS REPORTS. A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATION WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN CHANGE IN BDNF (PRE-POST) AND CORTISOL (PRE-POST) LEVELS IN THE YOGA-ONLY GROUP (R = -0.59, P = 0.008). IN CONCLUSION, YOGA MAY FACILITATE NEUROPLASTICITY THROUGH STRESS REDUCTION IN DEPRESSED PATIENTS. FURTHER STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO CONFIRM THE FINDINGS AND DELINEATE THE PATHWAYS FOR THESE EFFECTS.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
13  350  42 ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE FOLLOWING LONG SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA IN ART OF LIVING PRACTITIONERS. OBJECTIVE: THE BREATHING PROCESSES ARE KNOWN TO MODULATE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE AND IMPROVE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATUS. WE INVESTIGATED CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE FOLLOWING LONG SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) AND SKIN CONDUCTANCE LEVEL (SCL). METHODS: THIRTY HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (AGE 28.3 +/- 8.4 YEARS; 23 M: 7 F) PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (ECG) AND SCL WERE RECORDED FOR 5 MIN EACH, BEFORE AND AFTER LONG SKY. LONG SKY IS A COMBINATION OF PRANAYAMA AND CYCLIC RHYTHMIC BREATHING AND IS PERFORMED BY FOLLOWING THE GUIDED AUDIO INSTRUCTIONS. HRV ANALYSIS WAS USED FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HRV WERE CALCULATED BY USING RR INTERVAL OF ECG. SCL WAS ACQUIRED USING GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE (GSR) AMPLIFIER OF POWERLAB IN MICROSEIMENS (MUS). RESULTS: TIME DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HRV, INCLUDING MEAN RR INTERVAL (P = 0.000), RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA (RSA) (P = 0.037), STANDARD DEVIATION OF ALL NN INTERVALS (SDNN) (P = 0.013), NN50 COUNT DIVIDED BY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ALL NN INTERVALS (PNN50) (P = 0.004), AND SQUARE ROOT OF THE MEAN OF THE SUM OF THE SQUARES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADJACENT NN INTERVALS (RMSSD) (P = 0.002) INCREASED, AND MEAN HEART RATE DECREASED (P = 0.000) FOLLOWING LONG SKY. IN FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS, POWER OF LOW-FREQUENCY (LF) COMPONENT (P = 0.010) AND LF/HF RATIO (P = 0.008) DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, WHEREAS POWER OF HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED (P = 0.010). SCL DECREASED FOLLOWING LONG SKY, ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT ATTAIN STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT LONG SKY INDUCES SIGNIFICANT OSCILLATIONS IN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY INCREASES AND SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY DECREASES AND SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE IMPROVES FOLLOWING LONG SKY. DECREASE IN SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY IS ALSO DEMONSTRATED BY DECREASE IN CONDUCTANCE ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT REACH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. FROM THIS STUDY IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT LONG SKY HAS A BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE, AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RELAXATION. IT MAY SERVE AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE HRV, WHICH IS THE MARKER OF CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
14 1374  41 IMPACT OF AN INTEGRATED YOGA THERAPY PROTOCOL ON INSULIN RESISTANCE AND GLYCEMIC CONTROL IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS. OBJECTIVE: DIABETES MELLITUS (DM), CHARACTERIZED BY CHRONIC HYPERGLYCEMIA, IS ATTRIBUTED TO RELATIVE INSULIN DEFICIENCY OR RESISTANCE, OR BOTH. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT YOGA CAN MODULATE PARAMETERS OF INSULIN RESISTANCE. THE PRESENT STUDY EXPLORED THE POSSIBLE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF INTEGRATED YOGA THERAPY WITH REFERENCE TO GLYCEMIC CONTROL AND INSULIN RESISTANCE (IR) IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DIABETES MAINTAINED ON STANDARD ORAL MEDICAL CARE WITH YOGA THERAPY, COMPARED TO THOSE ON STANDARD ORAL MEDICAL CARE ALONE. METHODS: IN THIS STUDY, THE SUBJECTS ON YOGA INTERVENTION COMPRISED 35 TYPE 2 DIABETICS, AND AN EQUAL NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS CONSTITUTED THE CONTROL GROUP. SUBJECTS RANGED IN AGE FROM 30 TO 70 YEARS, WITH HEMOGLOBIN A1C (HBA1C) TEST MORE THAN 7%, AND WERE MAINTAINED ON DIABETIC DIET AND ORAL HYPOGLYCEMIC AGENTS. BLOOD SAMPLES WERE DRAWN PRIOR TO AND AFTER 120 DAYS OF INTEGRATED YOGA THERAPY INTERVENTION. FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE (FBG), POST-PRANDIAL BLOOD GLUCOSE (PPBG), HBA1C, INSULIN, AND LIPID PROFILE WERE ASSESSED IN BOTH THE INTERVENTION AND CONTROL GROUPS. RESULTS: THE INTERVENTION GROUP REVEALED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) (0.7 KG/M(2) MEDIAN DECREASE; P=0.001), FBG (20 MG/DL MEDIAN DECREASE; P<0.001), PPBG (33 MG/DL MEDIAN DECREASE; P<0.001), HBA1C (0.4% MEDIAN DECREASE; P<0.001), HOMEOSTATIC MODEL ASSESSMENT FOR INSULIN RESISTANCE (HOMA-IR) (1.2 MEDIAN DECREASE; P<0.001), CHOLESTEROL (13 MG/DL MEDIAN DECREASE, P=0.006), TRIACYLGLYCEROL (22 MG/DL MEDIAN DECREASE; P=0.027), LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (6 MG/DL MEDIAN DECREASE; P=0.004), AND VERY-LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN LEVELS (4 MG/DL MEDIAN DECREASE; P=0.032). INCREASES IN HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN AFTER 120 DAYS WERE NOT SIGNIFICANT (6 MG/DL MEDIAN INCREASE; P=0.15). HOWEVER, WHEN COMPARED TO CHANGES OBSERVED IN PATIENTS IN THE CONTROL GROUP, ALL THESE IMPROVEMENTS PROVED TO BE SIGNIFICANT. CONCLUSION: ADMINISTRATION OF INTEGRATED YOGA THERAPY TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DIABETES LEADS TO A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN GLYCEMIC CONTROL, INSULIN RESISTANCE, AND KEY BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
15  360  32 ASSOCIATION OF YOGA PRACTICE AND SERUM CORTISOL LEVELS IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS WITH STRESS-RELATED ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION. AIM: REDUCING THE PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS BY VARIOUS METHODS CAN IMPROVE OVERALL HEALTH, AND YOGA IS NOW CONSIDERED AS AN EASILY AVAILABLE ALTERNATIVE METHOD. THE PRESENT CROSS-SECTIONAL PILOT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED MAINLY TO FIND THE ASSOCIATION OF YOGA PRACTICE WITH PERIODONTAL DISEASE BY MEASURING SERUM CORTISOL LEVELS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A TOTAL OF 70 SUBJECTS WITH AGE RANGE OF 35-60 YEARS SUFFERING WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS WERE DIVIDED INTO GROUP I (WITH STRESS), GROUP II (WITHOUT STRESS), AND GROUP III (PRACTICING YOGA). PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION WAS CARRIED OUT USING HAMILTON ANXIETY RATING SCALE (HAM-A) AND ZUNG SELF-RATING DEPRESSION SCALE (ZSDS). PERIODONTAL PARAMETERS LIKE PLAQUE INDEX (PI), PROBING POCKET DEPTH (PPD), AND CLINICAL ATTACHMENT LEVEL (CAL) AT 5-8 MM AND >8 MM WERE RECORDED. BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED AND SERUM CORTISOL LEVELS WERE MEASURED. RESULTS: MEAN AGE, PLAQUE SCORES, AND NUMBER OF TEETH WITH PPD AND CAL AT 5-8 MM AND >8 MM WERE SIMILAR IN ALL THE GROUPS, EXCEPT BETWEEN GROUP I AND GROUP III WHERE A MULTIPLE COMPARISON WITH TUKEY'S POST-HOC TEST SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN PLAQUE INDEX (P < 0.038) AND THE NUMBER OF TEETH WITH CAL 5-8 MM (P < 0.016). SERUM CORTISOL LEVELS AND HAM-A SCALE AND ZSDS SCORES SHOWED HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT VALUE (P < 0.001) IN GROUP I SUBJECTS WHEN COMPARED WITH GROUP II AND GROUP III SUBJECTS. CONCLUSION: CROSS-SECTIONAL OBSERVATION DONE AMONG THREE GROUPS SHOWED THAT INDIVIDUALS PRACTICING YOGA REGULARLY HAD LOW SERUM CORTISOL LEVELS, HAM-A SCALE AND ZSDS SCORES, AND BETTER PERIODONTAL HEALTH.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
16 1578  41 MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM USING SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY. BACKGROUND: BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA HAVE BEEN POSTULATED TO BE DUE TO MODULATION OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA PRACTICES ON CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM THROUGH SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV). DESIGN OF THE STUDY: SHORT-TERM HRV OF LONG-TERM REGULAR HEALTHY 14 (12 MALES AND 2 FEMALES) ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF AGE- AND GENDER-MATCHED 14 (12 MALES AND 2 FEMALES) NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS. METHODS AND MATERIALS: ECG LEAD II AND RESPIRATORY MOVEMENTS WERE RECORDED IN BOTH GROUPS USING POLYRITE DURING SUPINE REST FOR 5 MIN AND CONTROLLED DEEP BREATHING FOR 1 MINUTE. FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS [RR INTERVAL IS THE MEAN OF DISTANCE BETWEEN SUBSEQUENT R WAVE PEAKS IN ECG], LOW FREQUENCY (LF) POWER, HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) POWER, LF NORMALIZED UNITS (NU), HF NU, LF/HF RATIO] AND TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS [STANDARD DEVIATION OF NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVAL (SDNN), SQUARE OF MEAN SQUARED DIFFERENCE OF SUCCESSIVE NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS (RMSSD), NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS WHICH ARE DIFFERING BY 50 MS (NN50), AND PERCENTAGE OF NN50 (PNN50)] OF HRV VARIABLES WERE ANALYZED FOR SUPINE REST. TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS WAS RECORDED FOR DEEP BREATHING. RESULTS: RESULTS SHOWED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND CONTROLS IN BOTH FREQUENCY AND TIME DOMAIN ANALYSES OF HRV INDICES, WITH NO DIFFERENCE IN RESTING HEART RATE BETWEEN THE GROUPS. CONCLUSIONS: PRACTITIONERS OF ISHA YOGA SHOWED WELL-BALANCED BENEFICIAL ACTIVITY OF VAGAL EFFERENTS, AN OVERALL INCREASED HRV, AND SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE, COMPARED TO NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS DURING SUPINE REST AND DEEP BREATHING.	2012	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
17 1761  35 POSITIVE THERAPEUTIC AND NEUROTROPIC EFFECTS OF YOGA IN DEPRESSION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. CONTEXT: THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF YOGA IN DEPRESSION IS RECOGNIZED. NEUROPLASTIC EFFECTS OF ANTIDEPRESSANT THERAPIES ARE INFERRED BY ELEVATIONS IN BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (BDNF). ROLE OF YOGA IN BOTH THESE EFFECTS HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED. MATERIALS AND METHODS: NON-SUICIDAL, CONSECUTIVE OUT-PATIENTS OF DEPRESSION WERE OFFERED YOGA EITHER ALONE OR WITH ANTIDEPRESSANTS. THE DEPRESSION SEVERITY WAS RATED ON HAMILTON DEPRESSION RATING SCALE (HDRS) BEFORE AND AT 3 MONTHS. SERUM BDNF LEVELS WERE MEASURED AT THE SAME TIME POINTS. REPEATED-MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE WAS PERFORMED TO LOOK AT CHANGE ACROSS GROUPS WITH RESPECT TO HDRS SCORES AND BDNF LEVELS OVER 3 MONTHS OF FOLLOW-UP. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHANGE IN SERUM BDNF LEVELS AND CHANGE IN HDRS SCORES WAS ASSESSED USING THE PEARSON'S CORRELATION COEFFICIENT. RESULTS: BOTH YOGA GROUPS WERE BETTER THAN DRUGS-ONLY GROUP WITH RESPECT TO REDUCTION IN HDRS SCORES. SERUM BDNF ROSE IN THE TOTAL SAMPLE IN THE 3-MONTH PERIOD. THIS WAS NOT, HOWEVER, DIFFERENT ACROSS TREATMENT GROUPS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN FALL IN HDRS AND RISE IN SERUM BDNF LEVELS IN YOGA-ONLY GROUP (R=0.702; P=0.001), BUT NOT IN THOSE RECEIVING YOGA AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS OR ANTIDEPRESSANTS-ALONE. CONCLUSIONS: NEUROPLASTIC MECHANISMS MAY BE RELATED TO THE THERAPEUTIC MECHANISMS OF YOGA IN DEPRESSION.	2013	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
18 1317  41 HEART RATE VARIABILITY CHANGES DURING HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: PRE AND POST COMPARISON AFTER ONE MINUTE OF HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) SUGGESTED THAT THE HFYB MODIFIES THE AUTONOMIC STATUS BY INCREASING SYMPATHETIC MODULATION, BUT ITS EFFECT DURING THE PRACTICE WAS NOT ASSESSED. METHODS: THIRTY-EIGHT MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH GROUP AVERAGE AGE +/- S.D., 23.3 +/- 4.4 YEARS WERE EACH ASSESSED ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS IN TWO SESSIONS, (I) HFYB AND (II) BREATH AWARENESS. EACH SESSION WAS FOR 35 MINUTES, WITH 3 PERIODS, I.E., PRE (5 MINUTES), DURING HFYB OR BREATH AWARENESS (15 MINUTES) AND POST (5 MINUTES). RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN NN50, PNN50 AND THE MEAN RR INTERVAL DURING AND AFTER HFYB AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS, COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE 'PRE' VALUES (P < 0.05) (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA FOLLOWED BY POST-HOC ANALYSIS). THE LF POWER INCREASED AND HF POWER DECREASED DURING AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS AND LF/HF RATIO INCREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THERE WAS REDUCED PARASYMPATHETIC MODULATION DURING AND AFTER HFYB AND INCREASED SYMPATHETIC MODULATION WITH REDUCED PARASYMPATHETIC MODULATION DURING AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS.	2011	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
19  807  37 EFFECT OF YOGA ON ARRHYTHMIA BURDEN, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PAROXYSMAL ATRIAL FIBRILLATION: THE YOGA MY HEART STUDY. OBJECTIVES: THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF YOGA ON ATRIAL FIBRILLATION (AF) BURDEN, QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL), DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY SCORES. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS KNOWN TO HAVE SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT ON CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH. THE EFFECT OF YOGA IN REDUCING AF BURDEN IS UNKNOWN. METHODS: THIS SINGLE-CENTER, PRE-POST STUDY ENROLLED PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC PAROXYSMAL AF WITH AN INITIAL 3-MONTH NONINTERVENTIONAL OBSERVATION PERIOD FOLLOWED BY TWICE-WEEKLY 60-MIN YOGA TRAINING FOR NEXT 3 MONTHS. AF EPISODES DURING THE CONTROL AND STUDY PERIODS AS WELL AS SF-36, ZUNG SELF-RATED ANXIETY, AND ZUNG SELF-RATED DEPRESSION SCORES AT BASELINE, BEFORE, AND AFTER THE STUDY PHASE WERE ASSESSED. RESULTS: YOGA TRAINING REDUCED SYMPTOMATIC AF EPISODES (3.8 +/- 3 VS. 2.1 +/- 2.6, P < 0.001), SYMPTOMATIC NON-AF EPISODES (2.9 +/- 3.4 VS. 1.4 +/- 2.0; P < 0.001), ASYMPTOMATIC AF EPISODES (0.12 +/- 0.44 VS. 0.04 +/- 0.20; P < 0.001), AND DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY (P < 0.001), AND IMPROVED THE QOL PARAMETERS OF PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING, GENERAL HEALTH, VITALITY, SOCIAL FUNCTIONING, AND MENTAL HEALTH DOMAINS ON SF-36 (P = 0.017, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.019, AND P < 0.001, RESPECTIVELY). THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN HEART RATE, AND SYSTOLIC AND DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE BEFORE AND AFTER YOGA (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: IN PATIENTS WITH PAROXYSMAL AF, YOGA IMPROVES SYMPTOMS, ARRHYTHMIA BURDEN, HEART RATE, BLOOD PRESSURE, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCORES, AND SEVERAL DOMAINS OF QOL.	2013	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
20 2507  41 YOGA BASED CARDIAC REHABILITATION AFTER CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY: ONE-YEAR RESULTS ON LVEF, LIPID PROFILE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES--A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY. OBJECTIVE: TO COMPARE THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA BASED CARDIAC REHABILITATION PROGRAM WITH ONLY PHYSIOTHERAPY BASED PROGRAM AS AN ADD-ON TO CONVENTIONAL REHABILITATION AFTER CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFTING (CABG) ON RISK FACTORS. METHODS: IN THIS SINGLE BLIND PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED PARALLEL TWO ARMED ACTIVE CONTROL STUDY, 1026 PATIENTS POSTED FOR CABG AT NARAYANA HRUDAYALAYA INSTITUTE OF CARDIAC SCIENCES, BENGALURU (INDIA) WERE SCREENED. OF THESE, 250 MALE PARTICIPANTS (35-65 YEARS) WHO SATISFIED THE SELECTION CRITERIA AND CONSENTED WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS. WITHIN AND BETWEEN GROUP COMPARISONS WERE DONE AT THREE POINTS OF FOLLOW UP (I.E. 6TH WEEK, 6TH MONTH, AND 12TH MONTH) BY USING WILCOXON'S SIGNED RANKS TEST AND MANN WHITNEY U TEST RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS: YOGA GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANTLY (P = 0.001, MANN WHITNEY) BETTER IMPROVEMENT IN LVEF THAN CONTROL GROUP IN THOSE WITH ABNORMAL BASELINE EF (<53%) AFTER 1 YEAR. THERE WAS A BETTER REDUCTION IN BMI IN THE YOGA GROUP (P = 0.038, BETWEEN GROUPS) IN THOSE WITH HIGH BASELINE BMI (>/=23) AFTER 12 MONTHS. YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT (P = 0.008, WILCOXON'S) REDUCTION IN BLOOD GLUCOSE AT ONE YEAR IN THOSE WITH HIGH BASELINE FBS >/=110 MG/DL. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER IMPROVEMENT IN YOGA THAN THE CONTROL GROUP IN HDL (P = 0.003), LDL (P = 0.01) AND VLDL (P = 0.03) IN THOSE WITH ABNORMAL BASELINE VALUES. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER IMPROVEMENT (P = 0.02, BETWEEN GROUPS) IN POSITIVE AFFECT IN YOGA GROUP. WITHIN YOGA GROUP, THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN PERCEIVED STRESS (P = 0.001), ANXIETY (P = 0.001), DEPRESSION (P = 0.001), AND NEGATIVE AFFECT (P = 0.03) WHILE IN THE CONTROL GROUP THERE WAS REDUCTION (P = 0.003) ONLY IN SCORES ON ANXIETY. CONCLUSION: ADDITION OF YOGA BASED RELAXATION TO CONVENTIONAL POST-CABG CARDIAC REHABILITATION HELPS IN BETTER MANAGEMENT OF RISK FACTORS IN THOSE WITH ABNORMAL BASELINE VALUES AND MAY HELP IN PREVENTING RECURRENCE.	2014