Observed percent change with yoga in selected physiologic and anthropometric indices of CVD risk*
| Findings, by Endpoint and Population | Uncontrolled Clinical Trials (>2 sessions) | Non-Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials (>2 sessions) | Randomized Clinical Trials (>2 sessions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markers of insulin resistance | |||
| Reduced fasting glucose | |||
| Healthy Adults | 6.8% [90] | 6.4–28.0% [88, 93] | |
| Adults with hypertension/CVD | 5.4–6.4% [68] | ||
| Adults with type II diabetes (DM II) | 25.1–33.4% [85, 86, 92] | 6.9% [95] | |
| Reduced postprandial glucose | |||
| Adults with type II diabetes (DM II) | 24.5–27.0% [85, 86, 91, 92] | ||
| Reduced fasting Insulin | |||
| Adults at risk for CVD | 19.2% [87] | ||
| Reduced fasting glycated hemoglobin | |||
| Adults with type II diabetes (DM II) | 13.3–27.3% [85, 86] | 15.5% [95] | |
| Lipid profiles | |||
| Reduced total cholesterol | |||
| Healthy adults | 9.3% [90] | 8.0–8.2% [88] [98] | |
| Adults with hypertension/CVD+ or DM II | 5.8–10.1% [68, 97] | 25.2% [80] | 14.8–21% [78, 99] |
| Adults with other chronic disorders | |||
| Reduced triglycerides | |||
| Adults with hypertension/CVD+ or DM II | 22.0–28.5% [78, 99, 100] | ||
| Reduced low density lipoprotein (LDL) | |||
| Healthy adults | 12.8% [98] | ||
| Adults with hypertension/CVD+ or DM II | 26.0% [80] | 19.1–23.3% [78, 99] | |
| Anthropometric markers | |||
| Reduced body weight | |||
| Healthy adults | 1.5–9.1% [103, 104] | 10.1% [106] | |
| Adults with hypertension/CVD+ or DM II | 5.1–13.6% [78, 99, 107] | ||
| Blood pressure | |||
| Reduced diastolic BP | |||
| Healthy adults | 7.7–8.8% [90, 104, 116] | 7.3–15.9% [93 98] | 4.9–12.4% [125, 127, 128] |
| Adults with or at risk for CVD | 8.5–16.7% [68, 97, 117–119] | 12.7–17.5% [80, 120–123] | 8.2–24.2% [79, 87, 107, 129–131] |
| Reduced systolic BP | |||
| Healthy adults | 2.6–7.3% [90, 104, 116] | 18% [98] | 6.8–9.3% [125, 127, 128] |
| Adults with or at risk for CVD | 7.1–17.0% [68, 97, 117–119] | 11.1–20.8% [80, 120–123] | 4.4–21.3% [79, 87, 107, 129–131] |
| Reduced baseline respiratory rate | |||
| Healthy adults | 3.8–14.4% [103, 104, 116, 139, 140] | ||
| Healthy children/adolescents | 5.3% [141] | ||
| Adults with hypertension | 60.3% [123] | ||
| Reduced baseline heart rate | |||
| Healthy adults | 4.3–38.8% [90, 104, 111, 116] | 4.3–8.2% [93, 98] | 5.0–11.6% [114, 115, 125–127] |
| Healthy children/adolescents | 17.0–30.2% [115, 141] | ||
| Adults with hypertension/CVD | 9.5–23.5% [120, 123] | 8.4% [107] | |
| Adults with other chronic disorders | 14.9% [151] |
* Including studies reporting improvement in these indices; studies not reporting point estimates or presenting sufficient data to allow reliable calculation of point estimates were excluded; weighted averages were calculated for studies presenting only stratified data (e.g., by sex).
CVD, cardiovascular disease.