Yoga helps prevent heart failure: Scientist

Adding yoga therapy as a complementary treatment for heart failure and heart diseases is beneficial, according to a study led by a scientist at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

Heart failure is a form of cardiovascular disease where the heart muscle is either too weak or too stiff to pump properly, often leading to fluid buildup, shortness of breath and other complications.

Participants in the yoga group taught selected yoga therapy like pranayama, meditation and relaxation techniques. Each session lasted around 60 minutes and participants were supervised for one week at the training centre before being asked to continue self-administered yoga at home.

Then, researchers measured quality of life improvements using the World Health Organisation Quality of Life questionnaire and found participants in the yoga group had improvement in endurance, strength, balance, symptom stability and quality of life. Interestingly, they also observed that while patients improved physically and psychologically, there was no improvement in social and environmental health.