Regular yoga classes ease the symptoms of asthma and significantly improve the quality of life of patients.

This is evidenced by the results of the new Cochrane Review, published recently in the Cochrane Library.

Yoga in recent years has gained incredible popularity in the West.

According to the National Center for Alternative and Integrative Medicine in the United States, about 21 million Americans practice yoga, which makes it the method of alternative medicine number 1 in the country.

Its popularity is due to the tremendous results of scientific research, which proved the benefits of these exercises in stress, anxiety and depressive disorders, hypertension, osteochondrosis, obesity, etc..

"Previously, our colleagues offered to practice yoga with asthma, but scientific evidence was not enough. Therefore, many people have hesitated whether to spend their time and resources on such a practice, or it is better to do something else, "explains Dr. Zuyao Yang, a researcher at China University in Hong Kong.

To better justify the use of yoga in asthma, Dr. Yang and his staff conducted a systematic review of 15 randomized controlled ("benchmark") studies that included 1,048 people suffering from mild to moderate bronchial asthma.

Most of the participants continued to use their asthma inhalers and other medications in the course of research, as they were recommended before. The duration of the study varied from 2 weeks to 4 years.

The results of the analysis confirm: regular yoga exercises alleviate some of the symptoms in patients with asthma, and also significantly improve their quality of life. In particular, many of them improve respiratory function and reduce the need for medication.

True, the researchers call the quality of these data "average", indicating the need for further work. Until more reliable results are obtained, the authors can not recommend a change in the approach to treatment, but it is definitely worthwhile looking at yoga for asthmatics.

medbe. en.

Keywords:.