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OBJECTIVES: To measure the effect of the right and left nostril yoga breathing on frontal hemodynamic responses in 32 right handed healthy male subjects within the age range of 18-35 years (23.75 +/- 4.14 years). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each subject practiced right nostril yoga breathing (RNYB), left nostril yoga breathing (LNYB) or breath awareness (BA) (as control) for 10 min at the same time of the day for three consecutive days, respectively. The sequence of intervention was assigned randomly. The frontal hemodynamic response in terms of changes in the oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxyHb), and total hemoglobin (totalHb or blood volume) concentration was tapped for 5 min before (pre) and 10 min during the breathing practices using a 16 channel functional near-infrared system (FNIR100-ACK-W, BIOPAC Systems, Inc., U.S.A.). Average of the eight channels on each side (right and left frontals) was obtained for the two sessions (pre and during). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10.0 through paired and independent samples t-test. RESULTS: Within group comparison showed that during RNYB, oxyHb levels increased significantly in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) as compared to the baseline (P = 0.026). LNYB showed a trend towards significance for reduction in oxyHb in the right hemisphere (P = 0.057). Whereas BA caused significant reduction in deoxyHb (P = 0.023) in the left hemisphere. Between groups comparison revealed that oxyHb and blood volume in the left PFC increased significantly during RNYB as compared to BA (oxyHb: P =0.012; TotalHb: P =0.017) and LNYB (oxyHb: P =0.024; totalHb: P =0.034). CONCLUSION: RNYB increased oxygenation and blood volume in the left PFC as compared to BA and LNYB. This supports the relationship between nasal cycle and ultradian rhythm of cerebral dominance and suggests a possible application of uninostril yoga breathing in the management of psychopathological states which show lateralized cerebral dysfunctions.
OBJECTIVES: To compare the immediate effect of mind sound resonance technique (MSRT) with supine rest (SR) on state anxiety and psychomotor performance in 15 (eight male and seven female) right-handed generalized anxiety disorder patients (GAD) with an age range of 34.8 +/- 12.8 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Self as control design was followed. Diagnosis of GAD was made by a psychiatrist using sections of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Participants practiced MSRT or SR (as control intervention) for 30 min at the same time for two consecutive days. The sequence of intervention was assigned randomly to the participants. State anxiety was assessed using state trait anxiety inventory (STAI; Form X1). Digit letter substitution task (DLST) was used to assess psychomotor performance, which involves visual scanning, mental flexibility, sustained attention, psychomotor speed and speed of information processing. Intervention was given in a quiet dark room on an empty stomach. Subjects received a training of MSRT and SR for 1 week before the data were taken. A pre-recorded audiotape was used to administer the technique of MSRT. Difference in scores after baseline and intervention was used to check normality, and was found to be normally distributed by the Kolmogrov-Smirnov test. The changes in STAI, DLST and difference in scores before and after two interventions (MSRT and SR) were compared using the paired samples t test. RESULTS: As compared with baseline, STAI scores reduced and DLST scores increased significantly (STAI; P < 0.01; DLST; P < 0.01) after MSRT. After SR, there was a significant reduction in STAI scores from baseline (STAI; P < 0.05), but there was no significant change in the DLST scores (P = 0.26). Comparison of the difference in scores for DLST and STAI before and after the two interventions (MSRT and SR) showed a significantly higher score for DLST (P < 0.05) and a significantly lower score for STAI (P < 0.01) for MSRT as compared with SR. CONCLUSION: This pilot study suggests that MSRT may have a potential role in reducing state anxiety and enhancing psychomotor performance in patients suffering from GAD immediately after the practice. These findings need confirmation from studies with a larger sample size and randomized controlled design, which are implicated in the future.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the long term effects of yoga based cardiac rehabilitation program with only physiotherapy based program as an add-on to conventional rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) on risk factors. METHODS: In this single blind prospective randomized parallel two armed active control study, 1026 patients posted for CABG at Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Bengaluru (India) were screened. Of these, 250 male participants (35-65 years) who satisfied the selection criteria and consented were randomized into two groups. Within and between group comparisons were done at three points of follow up (i.e. 6th week, 6th month, and 12th month) by using Wilcoxon's signed ranks test and Mann Whitney U test respectively. RESULTS: Yoga group had significantly (p = 0.001, Mann Whitney) better improvement in LVEF than control group in those with abnormal baseline EF (/=23) after 12 months. Yoga group showed significant (p = 0.008, Wilcoxon's) reduction in blood glucose at one year in those with high baseline FBS >/=110 mg/dl. There was significantly better improvement in yoga than the control group in HDL (p = 0.003), LDL (p = 0.01) and VLDL (p = 0.03) in those with abnormal baseline values. There was significantly better improvement (p = 0.02, between groups) in positive affect in yoga group. Within Yoga group, there was significant decrease in perceived stress (p = 0.001), anxiety (p = 0.001), depression (p = 0.001), and negative affect (p = 0.03) while in the control group there was reduction (p = 0.003) only in scores on anxiety. CONCLUSION: Addition of yoga based relaxation to conventional post-CABG cardiac rehabilitation helps in better management of risk factors in those with abnormal baseline values and may help in preventing recurrence.