Context:Perceived stress is higher for students in various healthcare courses. Previous studies have shown that pranayama practice is beneficial for combating stress and improve cardiovascular functions but both fast and slow pranayama practice produce different physiological responses.Aim:Present study was conducted to compare the effects of commonly practiced slow and fast pranayama on perceived stress and cardiovascular functions in young health-care students.Materials and Methods:Present study was carried out in Departments of Physiology and Advanced Centre for Yoga Therapy Education and Research, JIPMER, Pondicherry. Ninety subjects (age 18-25 years) were randomized to fast pranayama (Group 1), slow pranayama (Group 2) and control group (Group 3). Group 1 subjects practiced Kapalabhati, Bhastrika and Kukkuriya Pranayama while Group 2 subjects practiced Nadishodhana, Savitri and Pranav Paranayama. Supervised pranayama training was given for 30 min, 3 times a week for the duration of 12 weeks to Groups 1 and 2 subjects by certified yoga trainer. Following parameters were recorded at the baseline and after 12 weeks of training; perceived stress scale (PSS), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), rate pressure product (RPP), and double product (Do P).Results:There was a significant decrease in PSS scores in both Group 1 and Group 2 subjects but percentage decrease was comparable in these groups. Significant decrease in HR, DBP, RPP, and Do P was seen in only Group 2 subjects.Conclusion:This study demonstrates that both types of pranayama practice are beneficial in reducing PSS in the healthy subjects but beneficial effect on cardiovascular parameters occurred only after practicing slow pranayama.

Introduction:Recent studies have reported differential physiological and psychological effects produced by exclusive right and left nostril breathing and clinical research is required to prove immediate and sustained efficacy of these techniques in various psychosomatic conditions such as hypertension (HT). The present study was designed to determine immediate effects of 27 rounds of exclusive left nostril breathing, a yogic pranayama technique known as chandra nadi pranayama (CNP) on cardiovascular parameters in patients of essential HT.Materials and Methods:Twenty two patients of essential HT under regular standard medical management were individually taught to perform CNP by a qualified yoga instructor with a regularity of 6 breaths/min throughout a performance of 27 rounds of CNP. Pre and post intervention heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) measurements were recorded using non-invasive semi-automatic BP monitor and Students t test for paired data used to determine significant differences.Results:Twenty seven rounds of CNP produced an immediate decrease in all the measured cardiovascular parameters with the decrease in HR, systolic pressure (SP), pulse pressure, rate-pressure product and double product being statistically significant. Further, gender-based sub-analysis of our data revealed that our male participants evidenced significant reductions in HR and SP with an insignificant decrease in diastolic pressure, while in female participants only HR decreased significantly with an insignificant decrease in SP.Discussion and Conclusion:It is concluded that CNP is effective in reducing HR and SP in hypertensive patients on regular standard medical management. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previously published reports on immediate effects of left UFNB in patients of HT and ours is the first to report on this beneficial clinical effect. This may be due to a normalization of autonomic cardiovascular rhythms with increased vagal modulation and/or decreased sympathetic activity along with improvement in baroreflex sensitivity. Further studies are required to enable a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved as well as determine how long such a BP lowering effect persists. We recommend that this simple and cost effective technique be added to the regular management protocol of HT and utilized when immediate reduction of BP is required in day-to-day as well as clinical situations.

Background:Recent studies have reported the differential physiological and psychological effects of yogic uninostril breathing (UNB) and alternate nostril breathing (ANB) techniques. This study aims to determine differential effects of these techniques on reaction time (RT), heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP).Materials and Methods:Twenty yoga-trained subjects came to the lab on six different days and RT, HR, and BP were recorded randomly before and after nine rounds of right UNB (surya nadi [SN]), left UNB (chandra nadi [CN]), right initiated ANB (surya bhedana [SB]), left initiated ANB (chandra bhedana [CB]), nadi shuddhi (NS), and normal breathing (NB).Results:Overall comparison of ∆ % changes showed statistically significant differences between groups for all parameters. There was an overall reduction in HR- and BP-based parameters following CB, CN, and NS with concurrent increases following SB and SN. The differential effects of right nostril initiated (SB and SN) and left nostril initiated (CB, CN, and NS) UNB and ANB techniques were clearly evidenced. Changes following NB were insignificant in all respects. The overall comparison of ∆ % changes for RT showed statistically significant differences between groups that were significantly lowered following both SB and SN.Discussion and Conclusion:Our study provides evidence of sympathomimetic effects of right nostril initiated pranayamas with sympatholytic/parasympathomimetic effect following left nostril initiated pranayamas. We suggest that the main effect of UNB and ANB techniques is determined by the nostril used for inspiration rather than that used for expiration. We conclude that right and left yogic UNB and ANB techniques have differential physiological effects that are in tune with the traditional swara yoga concept that air flow through right nostril (SN and pingala swara) is activatory in nature, whereas the flow through left nostril (CN and ida swara) is relaxatory.

Background:Numerous scientific studies have reported beneficial physiological changes after short- and long-term yoga training. Suryanamaskar (SN) is an integral part of modern yoga training and may be performed either in a slow or rapid manner. As there are few studies on SN, we conducted this study to determine the differential effect of 6 months training in the fast and slow versions.Materials and Methods:42 school children in the age group of 12–16 years were randomly divided into two groups of 21 each. Group I and Group II received 6 months training in performance of slow suryanamaskar (SSN) and fast suryanamaskar (FSN), respectively.Results:Training in SSN produced a significant decrease in diastolic pressure. In contrast, training in FSN produced a significant increase in systolic pressure. Although there was a highly significant increase in isometric hand grip (IHG) strength and hand grip endurance (HGE) in both the groups, the increase in HGE in FSN group was significantly more than in SSN group. Pulmonary function tests showed improvements in both the groups though intergroup comparison showed no significance difference. Maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximum expiratory pressure increased significantly in both the groups with increase of MIP in FSN group being more significant than in SSN.Conclusion:The present study reports that SN has positive physiological benefits as evidenced by improvement of pulmonary function, respiratory pressures, hand grip strength and endurance, and resting cardiovascular parameters. It also demonstrates the differences between SN training when performed in a slow and fast manner, concluding that the effects of FSN are similar to physical aerobic exercises, whereas the effects of SSN are similar to those of yoga training.

Immediate cardiovascular effects of pranava relaxation in patients with hypertension and diabetes Study aim: To assess immediate cardiovascular effect of pranava pranayama in the supine position in patients with concomitant hypertension and diabetes. Material and methods: Twenty-nine established patients having both hypertension and type 2 diabetes and attending regular therapy sessions were recruited and randomly allotted to pranava or control groups. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded before and after 10 minutes of "sham relaxation" in the control group and 10 minutes of pranava pranayama in the study group. Results: Significant (p<0.05) decreases of blood pressure and heart rate were observed. However, responses in the pranava and control groups were different: systolic pressure, pulse pressure, as well as mean pressure significantly decreased in the pranava group and this was not observed in the control group. Conclusions: Pranava pranayam in the supine posture produces an integrated relaxation response, clinically valuable in patients with hypertension and diabetes.

Hypertension is one of the most common health disorders, and yoga has been shown to be an effective adjunct therapy in its management. Earlier studies have reported blood pressure (BP)-lowering effects of slow,deep breathing after 3 weeks and 3 months of training and beneficial immediate effects of slow, deep breathing in reducing premature ventricular complexes and lowering blood pressure. None of these immediate studies used the concept of pranayama, involving conscious internal awareness of the whole breathing process. This study was undertaken to determine the immediate cardiovascular effects of sukha pranayama in hypertensive patients. Methods: Twenty-three hypertensive patients attending the Yoga OPD at JIPMER were recruited for the study and instructed to perform sukha pranayama for 5 minutes at the rate of 6 breaths/min. This pranayama involves conscious, slow and deep breathing with equal duration for inhalation and exhalation. Heart rate (HR) and BP were recorded before and immediately after the intervention. Results: Post-intervention statistical analysis revealed a significant (p &lt; .05) reduction in HR and a highly significant (p &lt; .001) reduction in systolic pressure, pulse pressure, mean arterial pressure, rate-pressure product, and double product with an insignificant fall in diastolic pressure. Discussion: It is concluded that sukha pranayama at the rate of 6 breaths/minute can reduce HR and BP in hypertensive patients within 5 minutes of practice. This may be due to a normalization of autonomic cardiovascular rhythms as a result of increased vagal modulation and/or decreased sympathetic activity and improved baroreflex sensitivity. Further studies are required to understand possible mechanisms underlying this beneficial immediate effect and to determine how long such a beneficial effect persists.

Background:Yogic practices may aid in the prevention and management of diabetes mellitus (DM) and reduce cardiovascular complications in the population. The present study has been undertaken to evaluate the effect of yoga therapy on reaction time, biochemical parameters and wellness score of peri and post-menopausal diabetic patients.Materials and Methods:15 peri and post-menopausal patients receiving standard medical treatment for type 2 DM were recruited and reaction time and biochemical investigations were done before and after a comprehensive yoga therapy program comprising of three times a week sessions for six weeks. A post-intervention, retrospective wellness questionnaire compiled by ACYTER was used to evaluate the comparative feelings of the patients after the therapy program.Results:Yoga training reduced auditory reaction time (ART) from right as well as left hand, the decrease being statistically significant (P<0.05) for ART from the right hand. There was a significant (P<0.01) decrease in fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels as well as low density lipoprotein. The decrease in total cholesterol, triglycerides, and very low density lipoprotein and increase in high density lipoprotein was also statistically significant (P<0.05). All the lipid ratios showed desirable improvement with a decrease (P<0.01) of TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios and increase (P<0.05) in the HDL/LDL ratio.Discussion or Conclusion:Shortening of RT implies an improvement in the information processing and reflexes and is the first such report in diabetic patients. This has clinical significance and is worth further exploration with wider, well controlled, randomized studies in the diabetic population. Changes in blood glucose levels may be due to improved insulin sensitivity, decline in insulin resistance and increased sensitivity of the pancreatic b cells to glucose signals. Yoga improved the ‘heart friendly’ status of lipid profile in our subjects and as our participants were peri and post-menopausal, the decrease in cardiovascular risk profile is of greater significance. A comprehensive yoga therapy program has the potential to enhance the beneficial effects of standard medical management of diabetes mellitus and can be used as an effective complementary or integrative therapy program.

Introduction:This study planned to compare immediate cardiovascular effects of different yoga asanas in healthy young volunteers.Materials and Methods:Heart rate (HR), systolic pressure (SP), and diastolic pressure (DP), blood pressure (BP), were recorded using the non invasive blood pressure (NIBP) apparatus in 22 healthy young subjects, before and after the performance of Dhanurasana (DA), Vakrasana (VA) (both sides), Janusirasasana (JSA) (both sides), Matsyasana and Shavasana for 30 s. HR and BP were further recorded during supine recovery at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min. A repeated measure of ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.Results:There were significant changes in HR and BP both immediately after the Asanas as well as during the recovery period. Overall comparisons of ∆% changes immediately after the performance of the Asanas revealed significant differences with regard to HR that increased significantly after DA. In the recovery phase, there were significant intergroup differences from 2 min onward in both SP and DP. The decrease of SP after VA (right side) (VA-R) was significantly greater than Shavasana (4th, 6th, and 8th min) and JSA (left side) (JSA-L) at 6th and 8th min. DP decreased significantly after performing JSA-L compared to VA-R at the 6th and 8th min.Discussion:The cardiovascular changes immediately after the Asanas and during the recovery phase reveal inherent differences between the selected postures. The rise of HR in DA may be attributed to increased sympathetic response due to the relative difficulty of the posture as well as abdominal compression occurring in it. The effect of supine relaxation is more pronounced after the performance of the Asanas as compared to mere relaxation in Shavasana. This may be attributed to a normalization and resultant homeostatic effect occurring due to a greater, healthier de-activation of the autonomic nervous system occurring towing to the presence of prior activation. There were also subtle differences between the right sided and left sided performance of VA and JSA that may be occurring due to the different internal structures being either compressed or relaxed on either side.Conclusion:Our study provides initial evidence of differential cardiovascular effects of Asanas and subtle differences between right and left sided performance. Further, cardiovascular recovery is greater after the performance of the Asanas as compared to shavasan; thus, implying a better response when effort precedes relaxation.