1 741 106 EFFECT OF REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE ON RESPIRATORY REGULATION AND EXERCISE PERFORMANCE. YOGA ALTERS SPONTANEOUS RESPIRATORY REGULATION AND REDUCES HYPOXIC AND HYPERCAPNIC VENTILATORY RESPONSES. SINCE A LOWER VENTILATORY RESPONSE IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN IMPROVED ENDURANCE CAPACITY DURING WHOLE-BODY EXERCISE, WE TESTED WHETHER YOGIC SUBJECTS (YOGA) SHOW AN INCREASED ENDURANCE CAPACITY COMPARED TO MATCHED NON-YOGIC INDIVIDUALS (CON) WITH SIMILAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS. RESTING VENTILATION, THE VENTILATORY RESPONSE TO HYPERCAPNIA, PASSIVE LEG MOVEMENT AND EXERCISE, AS WELL AS ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE WERE ASSESSED. YOGA (N = 9), COMPARED TO CONTROL (N = 6), HAD A HIGHER TIDAL VOLUME AT REST (0.7+/-0.2 VS. 0.5+/-0.1 L, P = 0.034) AND A REDUCED VENTILATORY RESPONSE TO HYPERCAPNIA (33+/-15 VS. 47+/-15 L.MIN(-1), P = 0.048). A YOGA SUBGROUP (N = 6) WITH MAXIMAL PERFORMANCE SIMILAR TO CONTROL SHOWED A BLUNTED VENTILATORY RESPONSE TO PASSIVE CYCLING (11+/-2 VS. 14+/-2 L.MIN(-1), P = 0.039) AND A TENDENCY TOWARDS LOWER EXERCISE VENTILATION (33+/-2 VS. 36+/-3 L.MIN(-1), P = 0.094) WHILE CYCLING ENDURANCE (YOGA: 17.3+/-3.3; CON: 19.6+/-8.5 MIN, P = 0.276) DID NOT DIFFER. THUS, YOGA PRACTICE WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED EXERCISE CAPACITY NOR WITH SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN EXERCISE VENTILATION DESPITE A SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT RESPIRATORY REGULATION AT REST AND IN RESPONSE TO HYPERCAPNIA AND PASSIVE LEG MOVEMENT. 2016 2 1024 23 EFFECTS OF YOGA AND THE ADDITION OF TUI NA IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA. OBJECTIVES: THIS STUDY AIMED TO VERIFY WHETHER TECHNIQUES OF YOGA WITH AND WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF TUI NA MIGHT IMPROVE PAIN AND THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF FIBROMYALGIA (FMS) ON PATIENTS' DAILY LIFE. DESIGN: FORTY (40) FMS WOMEN WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS, RELAXING YOGA (RY) AND RELAXING YOGA PLUS TOUCH (RYT), FOR EIGHT WEEKLY SESSIONS OF STRETCHING, BREATHING, AND RELAXING YOGIC TECHNIQUES. RYT PATIENTS WERE FURTHER SUBMITTED TO MANIPULATIVE TECHNIQUES OF TUI NA. OUTCOME MEASURE: OUTCOME MEASURES COMPRISED THE FIBROMYALGIA IMPACT QUESTIONNAIRE (FIQ), PAIN THRESHOLD AT THE 18 FMS TENDER POINTS, AND A VERBAL GRADUATION OF PAIN ASSESSED BEFORE TREATMENT AND ON THE FOLLOWUP. THE VISUAL ANALOG SCALE (VAS) FOR PAIN WAS ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER EACH SESSION AND ON THE FOLLOW-UP. RESULTS: SEVENTEEN (17) RYT AND 16 RY PATIENTS COMPLETED THE STUDY. BOTH RY AND RYT GROUPS SHOWED IMPROVEMENT IN THE FIQ AND VAS SCORES, WHICH DECREASED ON ALL SESSIONS. THE RYT GROUP SHOWED LOWER VAS AND VERBAL SCORES FOR PAIN ON THE EIGHTH SESSION, BUT THIS DIFFERENCE WAS NOT MAINTAINED ON THE FOLLOW-UP. CONVERSELY, RY VAS AND VERBAL SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER JUST ON THE FOLLOW-UP. CONCLUSIONS: THESE STUDY RESULTS SHOWED THAT YOGIC TECHNIQUES ARE VALID THERAPEUTIC METHODS FOR FMS. TOUCH ADDITION YIELDED GREATER IMPROVEMENT DURING THE TREATMENT. OVER TIME, HOWEVER, RY PATIENTS REPORTED LESS PAIN THAN RYT. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A PASSIVE THERAPY MAY POSSIBLY DECREASE CONTROL OVER FMS SYMPTOMS. 2007 3 854 22 EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE MYOFASCIAL PAIN SYNDROME OF NECK. MYOFASCIAL PAIN SYNDROME (MPS) REFERS TO PAIN ATTRIBUTED TO MUSCLE AND ITS SURROUNDING FASCIA, WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH "MYOFASCIAL TRIGGER POINTS" (MTRPS). MTRPS IN THE TRAPEZIUS HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS THE MAIN CAUSE OF TEMPORAL AND CERVICOGENIC HEADACHE AND NECK PAIN. LITERATURE SHOWS THAT THE PREVALENCE OF VARIOUS MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS (MSD) AMONG PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IS HIGH. YOGA HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN USED TO TREAT MSDS IN VARIOUS POPULATIONS. BUT THERE IS SCARCITY OF LITERATURE WHICH EXPLAINS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON REDUCING MPS OF THE NECK IN TERMS OF VARIOUS PHYSICAL PARAMETERS AND SUBJECTIVE RESPONSES. THEREFORE, A PILOT STUDY WAS DONE AMONG EIGHT PHYSIOTHERAPISTS WITH MINIMUM SIX MONTHS OF EXPERIENCE. A STRUCTURED YOGA PROTOCOL WAS DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED FOR FIVE DAYS IN A WEEK FOR FOUR WEEKS. THE OUTCOME VARIABLES WERE DISABILITY OF ARM, SHOULDER AND HANDS (DASH) SCORE, NECK DISABILITY INDEX (NDI), VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALE (VAS), PRESSURE PAIN THRESHOLD (PPT) FOR TRIGGER POINTS, CERVICAL RANGE OF MOTION (CROM) - ACTIVE & PASSIVE, GRIP AND PINCH STRENGTHS. THE VARIABLES WERE COMPARED BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. FINALLY, THE RESULT REVEALED THAT ALL THE VARIABLES (DASH: P<0.00, NDI: P<0.00, VAS: P<0.00, PPT: LEFT: P<0.00, PPT: RIGHT: P<0.00, GRIP STRENGTH: LEFT: P<0.00, GRIP STRENGTH: RIGHT: P<0.01, KEY PINCH: LEFT: P<0.01, KEY PINCH: RIGHT: P<0.01, PALMAR PINCH: LEFT: P<0.01, PALMAR PINCH: RIGHT: P<0.00, TIP PINCH: LEFT: P<0.01, TIP PINCH: RIGHT: P<0.01) IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER INTERVENTION. 2014 4 2585 22 YOGA FOR HYPERTENSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS. OBJECTIVES: TO CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION. METHODS: SEVENTEEN DATABASES WERE SEARCHED FROM THEIR INCEPTIONS TO JANUARY 2014. RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS (RCTS) WERE INCLUDED, IF THEY EVALUATED YOGA AGAINST ANY TYPE OF CONTROL IN PATIENTS WITH ANY FORM OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION. RISK OF BIAS WAS ESTIMATED USING THE COCHRANE CRITERIA. THREE INDEPENDENT REVIEWERS PERFORMED THE SELECTION OF STUDIES, DATA EXTRACTION, AND QUALITY ASSESSMENTS. RESULTS: SEVENTEEN TRIALS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. ONLY TWO RCTS WERE OF ACCEPTABLE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY. ELEVEN RCTS SUGGESTED THAT YOGA LEADS TO A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER REDUCTION IN SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE (SBP) COMPARED TO VARIOUS FORMS OF PHARMACOTHERAPY, BREATH AWARENESS OR READING, HEALTH EDUCATION, NO TREATMENT (NT), OR USUAL CARE (UC). EIGHT RCTS SUGGESTED THAT YOGA LEADS TO A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER REDUCTION IN DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE (DBP) OR NIGHT-TIME DBP COMPARED TO PHARMACOTHERAPY, NT, OR UC. FIVE RCTS INDICATED THAT YOGA HAD NO EFFECT ON SBP COMPARED TO DIETARY MODIFICATION (DIM), ENHANCED UC, PASSIVE RELAXATION (PR), OR PHYSICAL EXERCISES (PE). EIGHT RCTS INDICATED THAT YOGA HAD NO EFFECT ON DBP COMPARED TO DIM, ENHANCED UC, PHARMACOTHERAPY, NT, PE, PR, OR BREATH AWARENESS OR READING. ONE RCT DID NOT REPORT BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISONS. CONCLUSION: THE EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION IS ENCOURAGING BUT INCONCLUSIVE. FURTHER, MORE RIGOROUS TRIALS SEEM WARRANTED. 2014 5 2394 27 YOGA AND BREATHING TECHNIQUE TRAINING IN PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE AND PRESERVED EJECTION FRACTION: STUDY PROTOCOL FOR A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL. BACKGROUND: CURRENT THERAPIES FOR HEART FAILURE (HF) ARE FOLLOWED BY STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE AND EXERCISE TOLERANCE, BESIDES REDUCING MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. SOME HF PATIENTS PRESENT CHANGES IN THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AND INSPIRATORY MUSCLE WEAKNESS, WHICH MAY BE RESTORED BY INSPIRATORY MUSCLE TRAINING, THUS INCREASING RESPIRATORY MUSCLE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE, MAXIMAL OXYGEN UPTAKE (VO2), FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY, RESPIRATORY RESPONSES TO EXERCISE, AND QUALITY OF LIFE. YOGA THERAPIES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE, INFLAMMATORY MARKERS, AND PEAK VO2 MOSTLY IN HF PATIENTS WITH A REDUCED EJECTION FRACTION. HOWEVER, THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES IN PATIENTS SHOWING HF WITH A PRESERVED EJECTION FRACTION (HFPEF) REMAIN TO BE ASSESSED. METHODS/DESIGN: A PROBE (PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED OPEN BLINDED END-POINT) PARALLEL-GROUP TRIAL WILL BE CONDUCTED AT TWO SPECIALIZED HF CLINICS. ADULT PATIENTS PREVIOUSLY DIAGNOSED WITH HFPEF WILL BE INCLUDED. AFTER SIGNING INFORMED CONSENT AND PERFORMING A PRE-TEST INTERVENTION, PATIENTS WILL BE RANDOMIZED INTO THREE GROUPS AND PROVIDED WITH EITHER (1) ACTIVE YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES; (2) PASSIVE YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES (PRANAYAMA); OR AND (3) CONTROL (STANDARD PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT). FOLLOW-UP WILL LAST 8 WEEKS (16 SESSIONS). THE POST-INTERVENTION TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED AT THE END OF THE INTERVENTION PERIOD FOR ANALYSIS OF OUTCOMES. INTERVENTIONS WILL OCCUR CONTINUOUSLY ACCORDING TO PATIENTS' ENROLLMENT. THE MAIN OUTCOME IS RESPIRATORY MUSCULAR RESISTANCE. A TOTAL OF 33 ENROLLED PATIENTS ARE EXPECTED. THE PRESENT PROTOCOL FOLLOWED THE SPIRIT GUIDELINES AND FULFILLED THE SPIRIT CHECKLIST. DISCUSSION: THIS TRIAL IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF A NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTION, NAMELY YOGA AND SPECIFIC BREATHING TECHNIQUES, TO IMPROVE CARDIORESPIRATORY FUNCTION, AUTONOMIC SYSTEM, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH HFPEF. TRIAL REGISTRATION: REBEC IDENTIFIER: RBR-64MBNX (AUGUST 19, 2012). CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTER: NCT03028168 . REGISTERED ON 16 JANUARY 2017). 2018 6 2712 20 YOGA LEADS TO MULTIPLE PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENTS AFTER STROKE, A PILOT STUDY. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS CHANGE IN PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING (PAIN, RANGE OF MOTION (ROM), STRENGTH, AND ENDURANCE) AFTER 8 WEEKS OF THERAPEUTIC-YOGA. DESIGN: PLANNED ANALYSES OF DATA FROM A RANDOMIZED PILOT STUDY OF YOGA AFTER STROKE. SETTING: UNIVERSITY-BASED RESEARCH LABORATORY. PARTICIPANTS: PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC STROKE (N=47) RANDOMIZED TO THERAPEUTIC-YOGA (N=37) OR WAIT-LIST CONTROL (N=10). INTERVENTIONS: 16 SESSIONS OF THERAPEUTIC YOGA (TWICE A WEEK/8 WEEKS). YOGA WAS DELIVERED IN A STANDARDIZED AND PROGRESSIVE FORMAT WITH POSTURES, BREATHING, AND MEDITATION, AND RELAXATION IN SITTING, STANDING, AND SUPINE. MAIN MEASURES: PAIN WAS ASSESSED WITH THE PEG, A 3-ITEM FUNCTIONAL MEASURE OF THE INTERFERENCE OF PAIN. ROM INCLUDED NECK AND HIP ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ROM MEASUREMENTS). UPPER AND LOWER EXTREMITY STRENGTH WERE ASSESSED WITH THE ARM CURL TEST AND CHAIR-TO-STAND TEST, RESPECTIVELY. ENDURANCE WAS ASSESSED WITH THE 6-MINUTE WALK AND MODIFIED 2-MIN STEP TEST. RESULTS: AFTER A BONFERRONI CORRECTION, PAIN, NECK ROM, HIP PASSIVE ROM, UPPER EXTREMITY STRENGTH, AND THE 6-MIN WALK SCORES ALL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED AFTER 8 WEEKS OF ENGAGING IN YOGA. NO CHANGES OCCURRED IN THE WAIT-LIST CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: A GROUP THERAPEUTIC-YOGA INTERVENTION MAY IMPROVE MULTIPLE ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING AFTER STROKE. SUCH AN INTERVENTION MAY BE COMPLEMENTARY TO TRADITIONAL REHABILITATION. 2014 7 1263 30 FLEXIBILITY OF THE ELDERLY AFTER ONE-YEAR PRACTICE OF YOGA AND CALISTHENICS. FLEXIBILITY TRAINING RESPONSES TO DISTINCT STRETCHING TECHNIQUES ARE NOT WELL DEFINED, ESPECIALLY IN THE ELDERLY. THIS STUDY COMPARED THE FLEXIBILITY OF ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS BEFORE AND AFTER HAVING PRACTICED HATHA YOGA AND CALISTHENICS FOR 1 YEAR (52 WEEKS), AT LEAST 3 TIMES/WEEK. SIXTY-SIX SUBJECTS (12 MEN) MEASURED AND ASSIGNED TO 3 GROUPS: CONTROL (N = 24, AGE = 67.7+/-6.9 YEARS), HATHA YOGA (N = 22, AGE = 61.2+/-4.8 YEARS), AND CALISTHENICS (N = 20, AGE = 69.0+/-5.8 YEARS). THE MAXIMAL RANGE OF PASSIVE MOTION OF 13 MOVEMENTS IN 7 JOINTS WAS ASSESSED BY THE FLEXITEST, COMPARING THE RANGE OBTAINED WITH STANDARD CHARTS REPRESENTING EACH ARC OF MOVEMENT ON A DISCONTINUOUS AND NON-DIMENSIONAL SCALE FROM 0 TO 4. RESULTS OF INDIVIDUAL MOVEMENTS WERE SUMMED TO DEFINE 4 INDEXES (ANKLE+KNEE, HIP+TRUNK, WRIST+ELBOW, AND SHOULDER) AND TOTAL FLEXIBILITY (FLEXINDEX). RESULTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT INCREASES OF TOTAL FLEXIBILITY IN THE HATHA YOGA GROUP (BY 22.5 POINTS) AND THE CALISTHENICS GROUP (BY 5.8 POINTS) (P < 0.01 FOR EACH) AND A DECREASE IN THE CONTROL GROUP (BY 2.1 POINTS) (P < 0.01) AFTER ONE YEAR OF INTERVENTION. BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISON SHOWED THAT INCREASES IN THE HATHA YOGA GROUP WERE GREATER THAN IN THE CALISTHENICS GROUP FOR MOST FLEXIBILITY INDEXES, PARTICULARLY THE OVERALL FLEXIBILITY (P <0.05). IN CONCLUSION, THE PRACTICE OF HATHA YOGA (I.E., SLOW/PASSIVE MOVEMENTS) WAS MORE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING FLEXIBILITY COMPARED TO CALISTHENICS (I.E., FAST/DYNAMIC MOVEMENTS), BUT CALISTHENICS WAS ABLE TO PREVENT FLEXIBILITY LOSSES OBSERVED IN SEDENTARY ELDERLY SUBJECTS. 2014 8 436 24 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