Cochrane Corner: Yoga to prevent cardiovascular disease

Abstract

It is widely accepted that both stress and physical inactivity are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1]. Strategies which promote a healthy lifestyle, including exercise and stress management, have been shown to be beneficial in terms of reducing CVD risk factors [1]. Yoga has been demonstrated to reduce stress [2] and the holding of poses that is involved provides surprising robust exercise [3] and so, theoretically, yoga could be effective as a primary prevention intervention for CVD. This Cochrane review included all controlled trials of any type of yoga lasting at least three months, with a comparison group of either no or minimal intervention [4]. 11 trials with around 800 participants in total, and two ongoing studies were included, and clinical CVD events and major CVD risk factors were the outcomes assessed. Around half of the participants recruited to the studies were considered to be at high risk of CVD, and around half were considered to be healthy. None of the included studies provided CVD or all-cause mortality data, or reported non-fatal CVD endpoints. However, in terms of CVD risk factors, 9 of the 11 studies measured blood pressure, and although meta-analysis was not possible for systolic blood pressure, all but 1 study reported that yoga led to a reduction, which was statistically significant in 3 studies. Metaanalysis was possible for diastolic blood pressure as there was less heterogeneity between studies, and yoga was found to significantly lower diastolic blood pressure (MD 2.90, 95% CI 4.52 to 1.28). Five trials measured lipid levels. The data for total cholesterol could not be pooled for meta-analysis, but two of the studies found A R T I C L E I N F O