The International Press picked up on exciting research shared at The 2024 Conference on Heart Failure 2024 in Portugal by European Society of Cardiology. The study revealed that when yoga was combined with standard medications, it led to more significant improvements for those with heart failure care than the use of medication alone.
It is often said that in the USA yoga therapy took off when Dr. Dean Ornish’s multi-centre research revealed the practice of an integrated yoga intervention could reverse heart disease. This was a ground-breaking finding and meant that the Ornish program became the first lifestyle intervention to be covered by Medicare in the USA. It was an absolute gain changer.
This study helps to add to the collective literature that highlights of the value of yoga in heart disease, the greatest cause of mortality worldwide. The study, conducted in India, enrolled 85 patients aged 30 to 70 who had undergone cardiac procedures within the past six months to a year. Divided into a yoga group and a control group, participants continued their prescribed heart failure medications throughout the study.
Yoga for Heart Failure Care
Under the guidance of experienced yoga instructors, the yoga group practiced breathing techniques, meditation, and relaxation techniques. After a week of supervised sessions, participants continued with self-administered yoga at home once a week for 50 minutes, with regular check-ins with their instructors.
Results showed that the yoga group experienced significant improvements in heart structure and function compared to the control group over six months and on another follow-up one year later! This included lower blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, and body mass index. Additionally, participants reported reduced symptom burden and improved ability to carry out daily activities.
The study was led by, Dr. Ajit Singh of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India who reported, “The findings suggest that yoga can be a beneficial for heart failure care and as a complementary therapy in patients with heart failure.”
If you have heart failure and would like to see how yoga can help you, please practice under the guidance of a yoga professional trained to work with this condition. The Minded Institute trains yoga therapists to work with many of these symptoms. Find a yoga therapist near you for support. For those with severe symptoms, individual suitability for yoga should be carefully assessed by a health professional.
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