The risks and benefits of yoga for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness and safety of yoga interventions on disease symptoms, quality of life and function in patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Data sources: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched through 6 June 2019. Review methods: Randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of yoga on quality of life, dyspnea, exercise capacity, and pulmonary function (FEV1) in patients with COPD were included. Safety was defined as secondary outcome. Mean differences (MD) and standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool. Results: Eleven randomized controlled trials with a total of 586 patients were included. Meta-analysis revealed evidence for effects of yoga compared to no treatment on quality of life on the COPD Assessment Test (MD = 3.81; 95% CI = 0.97 to 6.65; P = 0.009, I2 = 70%), exercise capacity assessed by the 6-minute walk test (MD = 25.53 m; 95% CI = 12.16 m to 38.90 m; P = 0.001, I2 = 0%), and pulmonary function assessed by FEV1 predicted (MD = 3.95%; 95% CI = 2.74% to 5.17%; P < 0.001, I2 = 0%). Only the effects on exercise capacity and pulmonary function were robust against methodological bias. Effects were only present in breathing-focused yoga interventions but not in interventions including yoga postures. Adverse events were reported infrequently. Conclusion: This meta-analysis found robust effects of yoga on exercise capacity and pulmonary function in patients with COPD. Yoga, specifically yoga breathing techniques, can be an effective adjunct intervention for patients with COPD. Yoga’s safety needs to be assessed in more depth in future studies.

Role of Ayurveda and Yoga-Based lifestyle in the COVID-19 pandemic – A narrative review

“…The breathing was practiced for 15 minutes, twice a day, for two consecutive weeks [ 68 ]. Similar improvements have been reported in trials involving patients with moderate to severe asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) [ 69 , 70 ]. Chair based yoga breathing practices have been found useful in acute airway obstruction in patients with bronchial asthma [ 19 ].…”

“…Melatonin is known anti-oxidant that plays an important role in improving sleep quality and ameliorating stress and anxiety. Yogic breathing techniques have also been found useful in improving lung functions in conditions with respiratory distress such as COPD and bronchial asthma [ 69 , 70 ], suggesting a probable role in reducing respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19 infection.…”

Effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise on renal function in adult patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The effectiveness of exercise has been demonstrated in a variety of chronic diseases. 1,2 It can improve renal function, reduce blood pressure and blood lipid, and improve depression and weakness, thus improving the patients' quality of life. 3,4 A Cochrane study 5 including 45 studies pertaining to 1863 people showed that regular exercise can improve physical health, cardiovascular indicators, and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease.…”

The effects of different components of yoga: A review of comparative studies and meta-analyses

“…Similarly, including breathing and/or meditation practices in yoga interventions increased their effectiveness in reducing prenatal depression (Gong et al, 2015) and elevated blood pressure (Hagins et al, 2013;Wu et al, 2019). Unsurprisingly, yoga interventions that were based on or included breathing practices were particularly helpful in alleviating respiratory diseases, such as asthma (Cramer, Posadzki, et al, 2014) and COPD (Cramer et al, 2019). In contrast, breathing-based yoga was not as effective in improving glycemic control and other diabetes-related measures (Kumar et al, 2016;Thind et al, 2017).…”