Influence of Yoga on Blood Pressure and Anxiety Among Adults With Hypertension

Background: Hypertension is a major chronic lifestyle disease and an important public health problem. This leads to numerous micro/macro vascular complications and subjects with hypertension are known to have a two-fold higher risk of developing coronary artery disease, four times higher risk of congestive heart failure and seven times higher risk of cerebro vascular disease compared to normotensive subjects. Aim: This community based study tested the efficacy of yoga controlling hypertension by studying its impact on Blood pressure and Anxiety among Hypertension Adults, Kancheepuram district, Tamil nadu, India. Design: Experimental before and after design . Setting/participants: villages under Kattankulathur block, 238 subjects aged 30 – 60 who were being treated for mild and moderate hypertension took part in the study. Intervention: The group allocated to practice yoga exercises for 5 days for 2hrs daily and continued performing twice daily for 12 weeks with regular treatment. The control group are also under medications but not given any specific exercises. The data were analyzed by proportions, chi-square tests, student independent t-test, Karl pearson’s correlation and 95% confidence intervals. Results: The study shows that the mean systolic BP & Anxiety in interventional group differed significantly. As regards SBP in the pre & post intervention setting the mean SBP is reduced from 152.75 to 138.51 (14.24) mm of hg and For control group, 152.85to 152.38 (-0.47) mm of hg . This fall in SBP in Intervention group was statistically significant (p<0.05) compared to the control group. Likewise for DBP, it is reduced from 94.51to 86.17 (8.34) mm of hg whereas the change in DBP values of the control group was not significant. State trait Anxiety Inventory was used to assess the level of Anxiety and showed a mean reduction of 12.6% state anxiety and 11.3% trait anxiety among interventional group. Conclusions: The yoga asanas were very simple and can be done in the home setup with the daily activities to decrease the blood pressure and Anxiety to avoid Blood Pressure related complications Introduction: Hypertension is a major chronic lifestyle disease and an important public health problem. A recent report indicates that nearly 1 billion adults had hypertension in 2000 and this is predicted to increase to 1.56 billion by 2025. This leads to numerous micro/macro vascular complications and subjects with hypertension are known to have a two-fold higher risk of developing coronary artery disease, four times higher risk of congestive heart failure and seven times higher risk of cerebrovascular disease compared to normotensive subjects. According to WHO (2002) in cardio vascular diseases prevention and control estimated 600 million people affected with hypertension world wide. WHO (2002) reports that hypertension causes 5 million premature deaths each year worldwide, causing 13% of global fatalities. Hypertension cannot be eliminated because there are no vaccines to prevent the development of Hypertension, but its incidence can be decreased by reducing the risk factors for its development, which include obesity, high dietary intake of fat and sodium and low intake of potassium, physical inactivity, smoking and excessive alcohol intake (Das SK, 2005). For established Hypertension , efforts are to be directed to control Blood Pressure by lifestyle modifications. Normalization of Blood Pressure reduce cardio vascular risks( for cardiovascular death, Myocardial infarction and Cardiac arrest) , provides renoprotection( prevention of the onset or slowing of proteinuria and progression of renal dysfunction to end stage renal disease in patients with Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus type 1 &2 and chronic renal disease) and decreases the risk of cerebrovascular events(stroke and cognition impairment) , as has been amply demonstrated by a large number of randomized clinical trials. Several studies have shown that Blood Pressure can be reduced by lifestyle modification. Although the reductions appear to be trivial, even small reductions in systolic Blood Pressure (for ex. 3-5mm Hg) produce dramatic reduction in adverse cardiac events and stroke. On the bases of the results of clinical and observational studies, it has been recommended that more emphasis be placed on lifestyle / behaviour modification to control Hypertension. Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Prior to 1990, population data suggested that Hypertension prevalence was decreasing; however, recent data suggest that it is again on the rise. In 1999-2002, 28.6% of the U.S. Population had Hypertension. The Prevalence of Hypertension has also been increased in other countries and an estimated 9.72 million people in the world are suffering from this problem. Incidence rates of Hypertension range between 3% and 18% depending on the age, gender, ethnicity and body size of the population studied. Despite advances in Hypertension, control rates continue to be suboptimal only about one third of all Hypertensives are controlled in the United States. Programme that help to improve Hypertension control rates and prevent Hypertension are urgently needed public health problem(R. McCaffrey, 2005) Yoga has become increasingly popular in western countries as a means of exercise and fitness (Stevens J, 2000). It is an ancient mindbody discipline that has been widely used in India for improving strength flexibility , and may help con-