Hyderabad: A yoga-based rehabilitation programme was found to be safe and feasible and has significantly improved the quality of life after cardiac surgery, according to a five-year study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Session.
The patients were randomised to undergo a structured Yoga-CaRe programme comprising meditation, breathing exercises and selected heart friendly yoga poses in addition to life style advices.
The control group received usual life style advice.
The study was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom.
Yoga, walking and other exercises along with a diet and lifestyle management are ancillaries which are found to help people cope after suffering a heart attack. Dr Sunil Kapoor, a senior cardiologist at Apollo Hospitals said, “Exercise is found to be a compulsory ancillary as it helps the blood vessels to dilate in the periphery and that helps the heart. Hence, any form of exercise is recommended as prevention for disease and for a healthy life.”
The Yoga-based Cardiac Rehabilitation (Yoga-CaRe) programme was compared with Enhanced Standard Care (ESC) in patients with heart attacks on their clinical outcomes like death, recurrent heart attacks, stroke, heart-related emergency hospital admissions and quality of life. The study was conducted in 24 centres in India and covered close to 4,000 patients at or immediately after discharge following a heart attack. The programme comprised meditation, breathing exercises and also select heart-friendly yoga poses along with lifestyle advices which were carried out on the control group.
There has been significant improvement in the quality of life and return to daily activities according to the study. A senior cardiologist explained, “In the event of a heart attack, the compulsory management and treatment has to be followed. After that during a rehabilitation programme the Yoga-CaRe along with other programmes is an option. Yoga can also be opted as a prevention measure. Any form of exercise reduces the risk by 50 per cent. The remaining 50 per cent depends on the diet, lifestyle, genetic make-up and other environmental factors for a heart attack which cannot be negated,” the senior cardiologist said.
The prevalence of ischaemic heart disease in India has increased by over 50 per cent in terms of absolute numbers which is from 10 million in 1990 to 24 million in 2016.
Dr Ambuj Roy, Professor of Cardiology at the AIIMS, said, “The trial demonstrated that, Yoga-CaRe is safe, feasible and significantly improves quality of life, and return to daily activities similar to that before the heart attack.”
Among those patients who attended at least 10 or of more of the planned 13 yoga training sessions, the Yoga-CaRe programme was efficacious in improving clinical outcomes by reducing death and lowering hospitalisations suggesting a potential dose-response relationship.
Professor Prabhakaran, Vice President of the Public Health Foundation of India and Principal Investigator of the study said, “The Yoga-CaRe Trial, the largest trial on Yoga as well as cardiac rehabilitation, has shown the potential of yoga to be an alternative to the conventional CR programs and address the unmet needs of cardiac rehabilitation for patients in low-and middle-income countries. It is safe, relatively inexpensive, does not need an elaborate infrastructure, culturally acceptable and improves quality of life.”
Professor Sanjay Kinra, Head, Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Co-Principal Investigator of the study said that improvements in cardiac care mean that most people nowadays survive a heart attack and the focus thus has shifted to improving quality of life of survivors of heart attacks so that they can readjust better after such a catastrophic event.
This major trial of yoga carried out with the highest scientific standards highlights the potential of traditional practices to play a complementary role in provision of medical care, particularly given the high costs of managing chronic conditions, Kinra said.
The programme is designed to be accepted by people of all religions/sects and is safe for the patients.
