A preliminary report on the role of yoga asanas on oxidative stress in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Nineteen subjects of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) between the age group of 30 -60 yrs were studied to see the effect of specific yoga asanas on fasting and postprandial blood glucose (FBG, PPG), serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA~) in addition to drug treatment and diet control. The duration of diabetes ranged from I -10 years. Patients with renal, cardiac and proliferative retinal diseases were excluded from the study. The same patients served as their own control. Subjects were called in the moming to the cardio-respiratory laboratory and were given training by a yoga expert. Yoga asanas included 8uryanamskar, Tadasan, TriKonasan, Padmasan, Pranayam, Paschimottanasan, Ardhmatsyendrasan, Pavanmukthasan, Sarpasan and Shavasan. The asanas were done every day for 40 days for 30 -40 rain. FBG, PPG, serum I~IDA and HbA~ were estimated before and after 40 days of yoga asanas regimen. Significant reduction was seen in FBG from 220 mg I dl to 162 mg I dl, PPG from 311 mg I dl to 266 mg I dl, MDA from 6 nmol I I to 3 nmol I I and HbA~ from 8.8 % to 6.4 %. Subjects felt better and were relieved of their stresses and had an improvement in their day to day performance. The decrease was statistically significant (p < 0.0001 for FBG and PPG, p < 0.001 for MDA and for HbA~).

Risk Indices Associated with the Insulin Resistance Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease, and Possible Protection with Yoga: A Systematic Review

“…Documented changes included reductions in fasting 68,80,85,86,88 -90,92,93 and postprandial glucose, 85,86,89,91,92 and in fasting glycohemoglobin; [85][86][87] in the one uncontrolled study yielding negative results, a trend toward reduced glucose was observed in male subjects despite low baseline levels 94 (Table 4). Likewise, nonrandomized controlled studies of healthy young adults 88 and adults with coronary artery disease (CAD) 80 reported reductions in fasting glucose among subjects receiving a yoga-based intervention versus controls receiving enhanced usual care 80 or no active intervention 88 ; descriptive findings of an additional small controlled study of healthy young men suggested similar improvement following a prescribed yoga program.…”

“…Although the evidence for a beneficial effect of yoga on indices of insulin resistance is relatively consistent across studies, most studies (62%) had no comparison groups 68,85,86,89 -92,94 and many had small sample sizes 68,85,86,89,90,93,95 or reduced power due to stratified analyses. 87,92,94 Others lacked detailed information on eligibility criteria or study population characteristics, 80,85,86,88,89,93 and blinding of the outcome assessment was reported in only one study.…”

“…87,92,94 Others lacked detailed information on eligibility criteria or study population characteristics, 80,85,86,88,89,93 and blinding of the outcome assessment was reported in only one study. 87 The study sample selection process was unclear in several studies, 86,89,90,93 and in others, potential selection bias, differential loss to follow-up 80 and uncontrolled confounding factors such as demographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle characteristics 85,[91][92][93][94][95] may have been important. The intervention was not well described 88 or varied in duration 91 in some studies; others included multiple interventions, 68,80,87,92 rendering detection of the effect of a specific component difficult.…”

“…All but one of these studies 100 were conducted in India, and all provide evidence that yoga may reduce oxidative stress in both healthy populations and those with chronic IRS-related disorders. In uncontrolled studies of Indian adults with uncomplicated diabetes mellitus, 85 or hypertension, 68 investigators demonstrated significant reductions in malonyldialdehyde (MDA), a circulating product of lipid peroxidation, following a 40-day yoga training course 85 and a 12-week yoga lifestyle intervention, 68 respectively. In agreement with these findings, nonrandomized controlled trials have shown significant reductions in MDA 137 and other markers of oxidative stress 137,138 in healthy young men completing a 10-week 137 to 5-month 138 yoga training program relative to matched untrained controls.…”

“…Of the 13 studies evaluating the effects of yoga on markers of insulin resistance, most documented significant, postintervention improvement in one or more indices following the practice of yoga either alone or in combination with other therapies ( 85,86,91,92 or hypertension 68 reported significant improvement postintervention in indices of insulin resistance relative to baseline values. Documented changes included reductions in fasting 68,80,85,86,88 -90,92,93 and postprandial glucose, 85,86,89,91,92 and in fasting glycohemoglobin; [85][86][87] in the one uncontrolled study yielding negative results, a trend toward reduced glucose was observed in male subjects despite low baseline levels 94 (Table 4).…”