Effect Of Yoga On Cardiovascular And Mental Status In Normal Subjects Above 30 years Of Age

Abstract

The cardiovascular diseases are much on a rise ever since the past few decades in developing countries. This study was done to analyze the effect of yoga on cardiovascular and mental status in normal subjects above the age of 30 years. The cardiovascular status was assessed by recording the blood pressure and heart rate; and mental status in terms of a questionnaire, before and after 6 months of regular yogic practice. The mean resting heart rate(beats/min) before yoga was 77.8 ± 4.8, which reduced significantly to 71.3 ± 5.2 after 6months of yogic practice (p<0.001). The mean resting systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) before yogic practice was 131.4 ± 10.2 and after 6months, it was lowered to a highly significant (p<0.001) level of 123.5 ± 9.9. The mean resting diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) before yoga was 85.6 ± 6.8 and reduced significantly (p<0.001) to 79.6 ± 7.3. The mean General Health Questionnare-28(GHQ-28) score before yogic practice was 8.4 ± 5.7 which reduced to 5.0 ± 4.1 after 6 months (p<0.001), showing a positive attitude of the subjects. Hence, yogic practice can be used as an intervention in ageing persons to reduce the morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords

• Yoga
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Mental status
• Normal subjects