Clinical Effects of Yoga on Asthmatic Patients: A Preliminary Clinical Trial, Jimma, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundAsthma is one of the commonest respiratory diseases in Jimma area as well as a significant disease burden worldwide costing billions of dollars. Anti-asthmatic drugs that are available in the market are expensive and have adverse effects. Thus, it is wise to look for an adjunct therapy to alleviate these problems. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to see the effect of yoga on patterns of clinical features, peak expiratory flow rates and use of drugs in asthmatic patients.MethodsA preliminary controlled clinical trial study was conducted on 24 volunteer asthmatic patients who were getting support at the missionary of charity. They were grouped in yoga and control groups. An Indian yoga expert through a translator conducted the training on yogic practice, yogic posture, breath slowing technique and discussion at the end. Then, the yoga groups were supervised for four weeks taking yoga exercise daily for 50 minutes. Peak expiratory flow rate was taken using the mini Wright peak flow meter and vital signs were measured in both groups. Data were analyzed using web based Graph pad quick calcs statistical software.ResultsThe male to female ratio was 1:1 in both cases and control groups, 8(66.7%) were Christian and 9 (75.0%) were farmers. The yoga group showed 66.7% reduction in the use of salbutamole puff and 58.3% salbutamole tablets. There was a 10% increment in the PEFR in the yoga group while only 2% in the control group. There was statistically significant reduction in day and night asthma attacks in the yoga group.ConclusionYoga exercise among asthmatic patients resulted in a decreased number of day and night attacks and use of drugs. It also shows significant improvement in the peak expiratory flow rate. Further large scale study is recommended.

Yoga as an Alternative and Complementary Treatment for Asthma

“…Asthma is a chronic lung disease caused by the contraction of smooth muscle surrounding the airways, making it difficult to breath and resulting in coughing and wheezing. 2 Patients suffering from mild to moderate asthma using inhaled corticosteroids are continually increasing dosages to control their asthma. 3 In addition, these medications are now being considered as factors influencing the increase in morbidity and mortality associated with the disease, making it imperative that a nonpharmacological alternative be found.…”

Yoga for asthma

“…We initially retrieved 190 records from electronic databases and clinical trials registries. A er deduplication and reviewing the titles and abstracts, we further evaluated 29 records, finally including 15 studies in this review (Nagarathna 1985;Singh 1990;Fluge 1994;Vedanthan 1998;Cooper 2003;Sabina 2005;Sodhi 2009;Vempati 2009;Mekonnen 2010;Bidwell 2012; Lathadevi 2012; Satpathy 2012; Singh 2012; Kant 2013; Prem 2013). Except for one study (Kant 2013), which was available as an abstract only, we included all eligible studies in a qualitative synthesis.…”

“…All studies were individually randomised, parallel-group trials, except for one cross-over trial (Singh 1990). Eight studies were from India (Nagarathna 1985;Sodhi 2009;Vempati 2009; Lathadevi 2012; Satpathy 2012; Singh 2012; Kant 2013; Prem 2013), three from the USA (Vedanthan 1998; Sabina 2005; Bidwell 2012), two from the UK (Singh 1990;Cooper 2003), one from Germany (Fluge 1994, published in German), and one from Ethiopia (Mekonnen 2010). We included 15 studies involving a total of 1048 participants.…”

“…Most studies were conducted in adults only. Two studies involved some children and adolescents, but the numbers of these participants were not reported, and there was no stratified analysis by age group (Nagarathna 1985;Mekonnen 2010). Two studies included male participants only (Lathadevi 2012; Satpathy 2012), one study included female participants only (Bidwell 2012), and the remaining studies included both sexes, with no preference.…”

“…Two studies included male participants only (Lathadevi 2012; Satpathy 2012), one study included female participants only (Bidwell 2012), and the remaining studies included both sexes, with no preference. In two studies, most or all of the participants were white (Singh 1990;Sabina 2005), in one study, all participants were African (Mekonnen 2010), and the remaining studies did not report the ethnic composition of participants.…”