Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally, accounting for more than 17 million lives each year. Alarmingly, 80% of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, where access to long-term care and rehabilitation can be limited. Heart failure is one among the many complications of CVD, which significantly impairs the quality of life, leaving patients breathless, fatigued, and often unable to carry out simple daily tasks. A recent study suggests that there may be a powerful, low-cost tool to support these patients: yoga.Research presented at Heart Failure 2024, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) found that yoga is linked with improvement of symptoms in patients with heart failure. Yoga, which is focused on breathing, meditation, and relaxation, can help heart failure patients build stronger hearts and become more active.“Patients who practised yoga on top of taking their medications felt better, were able to do more, and had stronger hearts than those who only took drugs for their heart failure. The findings suggest that yoga can be a beneficial complementary therapy in patients with heart failure,” study author Dr. Ajit Singh of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India said in a statement.
Representative image.
Heart failure is a chronic medical condition in which the heart is unable to pump blood effectively enough to meet the body’s needs for oxygen and nutrients. In simple words, the heart cannot keep up with its workload, and as a result, the body may not get the oxygen it needs. Over 64 million people are affected by heart failure globally, which leads to devastating impacts on quality of life, with patients feeling tired and breathless, and being unable to participate in their usual activities.
Role of yoga in building a stronger heart
Though previous studies have shown short-term benefits of yoga in patients with heart failure, this study provides new information about the long-term effects.To understand the long-term effects of yoga, the researchers looked at 85 heart failure patients aged between 30 and 70 from the cardiology outpatient department at Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, India. All of the participants had undergone a heart procedure within the past 6 to 12 months and were already on standard heart failure medications. Patients with severe symptoms were excluded. The average age was 49 years, and 70 (82%) were men. 40 patients were assigned to the yoga group and 45 patients were allocated to the control group, in a non-randomised fashion. All of them followed the guideline-recommended heart failure medications throughout the study.The participants practised yoga under the supervision of experienced faculty in the hospital’s Department of Yoga. They demonstrated pranayama (yogic breathwork), meditation, and relaxation techniques to patients in the yoga group. After a week of supervision, the participants were advised to continue it at home once a week for 50 minutes. The progress of the patients was recorded.
To evaluate the progress, researchers conducted tests at the beginning of the study, at six months, and at one year. They used echocardiography to measure the heart’s pumping ability (left ventricular ejection fraction) and right ventricular function. Blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, and body mass index were also recorded. Functional capacity was measured using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, which assesses a patient’s ability to perform everyday tasks, such as walking and climbing stairs. The results were surprising. The participants in the yoga group had significantly greater improvements in all measurements at six months and one year relative to baseline.“Patients who did yoga had healthier hearts and were more able to carry out ordinary activities such as walking and climbing stairs than those who only took medications. Patients with heart failure should speak to their doctor before starting yoga and should then receive training from an experienced instructor. Prescribed medications should be continued as before. Yoga may be unsuitable for heart failure patients with severe symptoms, who were excluded from our study,” Dr. Singh said. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
