Yoga and Your Heart
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Updated January 05, 2015.
Obesity is a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease. As such, in addition to weight loss, engaging in activities that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease is important both for those who are overweight and obese as well as for those who are not. Getting enough exercise every day is a major part of cardiovascular risk reduction, and research has found that yoga is one of many activities that may improve certain risk factors.
What Is Cardiovascular Disease?
The term cardiovascular disease, or CVD, refers to disease of the heart and blood vessels. This includes the blood vessels that supply the brain, so CVD also includes cerebrovascular disease, which encompasses strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs).
Other specific conditions included under the broad diagnosis of CVD are: high blood pressure, or hypertension; coronary artery disease; valvular heart disease, which is disease affecting the heart valves; congenital heart disease, which is heart disease that is present at birth—essentially, birth defects affecting the heart; heart failure; peripheral arterial disease (PAD); and many others.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CVD is the leading cause of death not only for adults in the United States, but across the world. CVD is responsible for one out of every three deaths in the United States, and for 30% of all deaths worldwide. And, as the American Heart Association (AHA) notes, CVD kills more people than all forms of cancer combined.
The AHA also notes that an estimated 80% of CVD is entirely preventable. This means that there are risk factors for CVD that can be identified and modified so that the disease may be prevented. As noted above, obesity is one of these risk factors.
How Yoga Helps Improve Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Yoga, which is considered to be a mind-body practice, can have favorable effects on the cardiovascular system. In one large meta-analysis of over 30 randomized controlled trials involving the practice of yoga, investigators found that yoga improved several cardiovascular risk factors—such as improvement in body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and cholesterol.
These investigators even found that yoga was associated with weight loss (an average of approximately 5 lbs.).
In addition, those who practiced yoga were found to have the same improvements as those who participated in “regular exercise,” such as biking or walking.
Other researchers have found that yoga has a favorable impact on blood pressure as well as on stress levels and the body’s response to stress.
Learning More About Yoga
About.com’s Yoga site has a wealth of information for everyone from the beginner to the advanced yogi. There you can learn about inexpensive ways to participate in yoga as well as tips for getting started. Your heart will thank you for it!
References:
Chu P, Gotink RA, Yeh GY, et al. The effectiveness of yoga in modifying risk factors for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2014 [published online before print December 15, 2014].
Mayor S. Yoga reduces cardiovascular risk as much as walking or cycling, study shows. BMJ 2014;349:g7713.
Thiyagarajan R, Pal P, Pal GK, et al. Additional benefit of yoga to standard lifestyle modification on blood pressure in prehypertensive subjects: a randomized controlled study. Hypertens Res 2014. [Epub ahead of print]
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