Positive Health Online

Abstract

WOLFF and COLLEAGUES,  (1)Center for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms gata 35, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö 205 02, Sweden. moa.wolff@med.lu.se studied the effect of yoga upon blood pressure and quality of life in patients with hypertension in Sweden.

Background

Medical treatment of hypertension is not always sufficient to achieve blood pressure control. Despite this, previous studies on supplementary therapies, such as yoga, are relatively few. We investigated the effects of two yoga interventions on blood pressure and quality of life in patients in primary health care diagnosed with hypertension.

Methodology

Adult patients (age 20-80 years) with diagnosed hypertension were identified by an electronic chart search at a primary health care centre in southern Sweden. In total, 83 subjects with blood pressure values of 120-179/≤109 mmHg at baseline were enrolled. At baseline, the patients underwent standardized blood pressure measurement at the health care centre and they completed a questionnaire on self-rated quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF). There were three groups: 1) yoga class with yoga instructor (n = 28); 2) yoga at home (n = 28); and 3) a control group (n = 27). The participants were matched at the group level for systolic blood pressure. After 12 weeks of intervention, the assessments were performed again. At baseline a majority of the patients (92%) were on antihypertensive medication, and the patients were requested not to change their medication during the study.

Results

The yoga class group showed no improvement in blood pressure or self-rated quality of life, while in the yoga at home group there was a decline in diastolic blood pressure of 4.4 mmHg (p < 0.05) compared to the control group. Moreover, the yoga at home group showed significant improvement in self-rated quality of life compared to the control group (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

A short yoga program for the patient to practise at home seems to have an antihypertensive effect, as well as a positive effect on self-rated quality of life compared to controls. This implies that simple yoga exercises may be useful as a supplementary blood pressure therapy in addition to medical treatment when prescribed by primary care physicians.

References

Wolff M(1), Sundquist K, Larsson Lönn S and Midlöv P. Impact of yoga on blood pressure and quality of life in patients with hypertension - a controlled trial in primary care, matched for systolic blood pressure.   BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 7;13:111. doi: 10.1186/1471-2261-13-111. Dec 2013.

Comment

The above results demonstrated a positive effect of yoga upon blood pressure; it would be hoped that this therapy could be added to standard medical care.