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Maity S, Abbaspour R, Bandelow S, Pahwa S, Alahdadi T, Shah S, Chhetri P, Jha AK, Nauhria S, Nath R, Nayak N, Nauhria S. The psychosomatic impact of Yoga in medical education: a systematic review and meta-analysis. MEDICAL EDUCATION ONLINE 2024; 29:2364486. [PMID: 38861675 PMCID: PMC11168339 DOI: 10.1080/10872981.2024.2364486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Non-clinical approaches such as meditation, yoga, and mindfulness are popular traditional therapeutical interventions adopted by many educational institutions to improve the physical and mental well-being of learners. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of yoga intervention in improving cardiopulmonary parameters such as blood pressure, heart rate, pulmonary function tests and psychosomatic symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress in medical and dental students. Using the PRISMA protocol, a search from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Embase resulted in 304 relevant articles. After screening the title and abstracts, 47 papers were analyzed thoroughly and included in the qualitative analysis. 18 articles with homogenous statistical data on physiology and psychological parameters were included for meta-analysis. In comparison to the control group, the study showed a significant reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP: 6.82 mmHg, z = -3.06, p = 0.002), diastolic blood pressure (DBP: 2.92 mmHg, z = -2.22, p = 0.03), and heart rate (HR: 2.55 beats/min, z = -2.77, p = 0.006). Additionally, data from 4 studies yielded a significant overall effect of a stress reduction of 0.77 on standardized assessments due to the yoga intervention (z = 5.29, p < 0.0001). Lastly, the results also showed a significant (z = -2.52, p = 0.01) reduction of 1.2 in standardized anxiety tests in intervention group compared to the control. The findings offer promising prospects for medical educators globally, encouraging them to consider reformation and policymaking in medical curricula to enhance academic success and improve the overall quality of life for medical students worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabyasachi Maity
- Department of Physiology, Neuroscience, and Behavioral Sciences, St. George’s University School of Medicine, True Blue, Grenada
| | - Raman Abbaspour
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Stephan Bandelow
- Department of Physiology, Neuroscience, and Behavioral Sciences, St. George’s University School of Medicine, True Blue, Grenada
| | - Sehaj Pahwa
- Medical Student Research Institute, St. George’s University School of Medicine, True Blue, Grenada
| | - Taraneh Alahdadi
- Medical Student Research Institute, St. George’s University School of Medicine, True Blue, Grenada
| | - Sharan Shah
- Medical Student Research Institute, St. George’s University School of Medicine, True Blue, Grenada
| | - Praghosh Chhetri
- Department of Physiology, St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine, Georgetown, Cayman Islands
| | - Ameet Kumar Jha
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine, Georgetown, Cayman Islands
| | - Shreya Nauhria
- Department of Child Protection, Cayman Islands Red Cross, Georgetown, Cayman Islands
| | - Reetuparna Nath
- Department of Education Service, St. George’s University School of Medicine, True Blue, Grenada
| | - Narendra Nayak
- Department of Microbiology, St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine, Georgetown, Cayman Islands
| | - Samal Nauhria
- Department of Pathology, St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine, Georgetown, Cayman Islands
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Vanutelli ME, Grigis C, Lucchiari C. Breathing Right… or Left! The Effects of Unilateral Nostril Breathing on Psychological and Cognitive Wellbeing: A Pilot Study. Brain Sci 2024; 14:302. [PMID: 38671954 PMCID: PMC11048276 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14040302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The impact of controlled breathing on cognitive and affective processing has been recognized since ancient times, giving rise to multiple practices aimed at achieving different psychophysical states, mostly related to mental clarity and focus, stress reduction, and relaxation. Previous scientific research explored the effects of forced unilateral nostril breathing (UNB) on brain activity and emotional and cognitive functions. Some evidence concluded that it had a contralateral effect, while other studies presented controversial results, making it difficult to come to an unambiguous interpretation. Also, a few studies specifically addressed wellbeing. In the present study, we invited a pilot sample of 20 participants to take part in an 8-day training program for breathing, and each person was assigned to either a unilateral right nostril (URNB) or left nostril breathing condition (ULNB). Then, each day, we assessed the participants' wellbeing indices using their moods and mind wandering scales. The results revealed that, after the daily practice, both groups reported improved wellbeing perception. However, the effect was specifically related to the nostril involved. URNB produced more benefits in terms of stress reduction and relaxation, while ULNB significantly and increasingly reduced mind-wandering occurrences over time. Our results suggest that UNB can be effectively used to increase wellbeing in the general population. Additionally, they support the idea that understanding the effects of unilateral breathing on wellbeing and cognition requires a complex interpretive model with multiple brain networks to address bottom-up and top-down processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Elide Vanutelli
- Department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti”, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milan, Italy; (M.E.V.); (C.G.)
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Grigis
- Department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti”, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milan, Italy; (M.E.V.); (C.G.)
| | - Claudio Lucchiari
- Department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti”, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20122 Milan, Italy; (M.E.V.); (C.G.)
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Deepeshwar S, Budhi RB. Slow yoga breathing improves mental load in working memory performance and cardiac activity among yoga practitioners. Front Psychol 2022; 13:968858. [PMID: 36186291 PMCID: PMC9516310 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.968858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the immediate effect of slow yoga breathing (SYB) at 6 breaths per minute (bpm) simultaneously on working memory performance and heart rate variability (HRV) in yoga practitioners. A total of 40 healthy male volunteers performed a working memory task, ‘n-back’, consisting of three levels of difficulty, 0-back, 1-back, and 2-back, separately, before and after three SYB sessions on different days. The SYB sessions included alternate nostril breathing (ANB), right nostril breathing (RNB), and breath awareness (BAW). Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant reduction in reaction time (ms) in 2-back condition immediately after ANB (−8%), RNB (−8%) and BAW (−5%) practices. Similarly, the accuracy was improved in the 0-back condition after RNB (4%), and in the 2-back condition after ANB (6%) and RNB (6%) practices. These results suggest that SYB practice enhances cognitive abilities (8–9%) related to memory load and improves the functioning of cardiac autonomic activity, which is required for the successful completion of mental tasks.Trial registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2018/01/011132).
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Dutta A, Aruchunan M, Mukherjee A, Metri KG, Ghosh K, Basu-Ray I. A Comprehensive Review of Yoga Research in 2020. JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE 2022; 28:114-123. [PMID: 35099279 DOI: 10.1089/jicm.2021.0420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Objectives: Accumulated evidence garnered in the last few decades has highlighted the role of yoga in health and disease. The overwhelming mortality and morbidity mediated by noncommunicable epidemics such as heart disease and cancer have fostered a search for mechanisms to attenuate them. Despite overwhelming success in acute care, the efficacy of modern medicines has been limited on this front. Yoga is one of the integrative therapies that has come to light as having a substantial role in preventing and mitigating such disorders. It thus seems trite to analyze and discuss the research advancements in yoga for 2020. The present review attempts to distill recent research highlights from voluminous literature generated in 2020. Methods: This review was conducted on the articles published or assigned to an issue in 2020. The authors searched the PubMed database for clinical studies published in the English language, using yoga (including meditation) as the intervention, and having an adequate description of the intervention. Then, they extracted data from each study into a standardized Google sheet. Results: A total of 1149 citations were retrieved in the initial search. Of these, 46 studies met eligibility criteria and were finally included. The studies were predominantly on mental health and neuropsychology, addressing various issues such as anxiety, postural balance, migraine, academic performance, and childhood neglect. Anxiety, stress, and depression were other common denominators. Eight studies were on cardiorespiratory systems, including exercise capacity, cardiac rehabilitation, myocardial infarction, and hypertension. Three studies were on diabetes, evaluating the effect of yoga. Five studies focused on cognition, health status, and autonomic regulation and few others included cancers, infertility, ulcerative colitis, urinary incontinence, restless leg syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain, and metabolic syndrome. Finally, most studies were on noncommunicable diseases with one exception, human immunodeficiency virus; two randomized controlled trials were dedicated to it. Conclusions: Yoga has been studied under a wide variety of clinicopathological conditions in the year 2020. This landscape review intends to provide an idea of the role of yoga in various clinical conditions and its future therapeutic implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhijit Dutta
- Advanced Yoga Research Council, AAYM, Germantown, TN, USA
| | - Mooventhan Aruchunan
- Department of Research, Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College, Chennai, India
| | | | | | - Kuntal Ghosh
- Department of Yoga, Manipur University, Imphal, India
| | - Indranill Basu-Ray
- Department of Cardiology, Memphis VA Medical Center, Memphis, TN, USA
- School of Public Health, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Integrative Cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, India
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