Yoga improves vascular health: meta-analysis shows way to prevention

Yoga improves vascular health: meta-analysis shows way to prevention

At the core of modern health research is the recognition that the health of our blood vessels is crucial to overall well-being and the prevention of disease. Malfunction of the inner layer of blood vessels, known as the endothelium, plays a central role in the development of cardiovascular disease and a variety of other serious health problems, including diabetes, kidney failure, cancer and viral infections. The endothelium helps regulate blood flow and prevent inflammation, meaning its health is critical.

Given this important role of the endothelium, scientists have investigated whether yoga—a practice that includes both physical exercise and meditative elements—could improve endothelium function. The 2024 research addressed this question through a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing studies. The results of 18 studies with a total of 1043 participants were analyzed. This analysis found that yoga training led to an improvement in endothelial function in some cases, particularly improving blood flow in the arm arteries, as measured by so-called flow-mediated dilatation (FMD).

Although six of the studies examined did not find statistically significant effects of yoga on endothelial function, the meta-analysis, taking into account controlled experiments, showed that yoga could have a positive effect. This suggests that yoga, as part of integrative medicine, has the potential to reduce endothelial health and therefore the risk of various diseases. However, the moderate statistical heterogeneity suggests that results varied between studies, meaning that further large-scale clinical trials are needed to make definitive recommendations.

The significance of this research is that it offers a non-pharmaceutical, accessible approach to improving endothelial health and therefore preventing a range of diseases. Yoga, as a form of exercise that involves body and mind, could therefore be a valuable addition to existing preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Since no negative side effects have been reported, yoga is a safe method that people can consider to improve the function of their blood vessels and reduce their overall health risks. It is important to emphasize that the decision to practice yoga to improve endothelial function is best made in consultation with a healthcare professional, especially if there are pre-existing health conditions.

Basic terms and concepts

• Endotheliale Dysfunktion: Eine Störung der normalen Funktion der innersten Schicht der Blutgefäße, die zu verschiedenen Krankheiten führen kann.
• Atherosklerose: Eine Erkrankung, bei der sich an den Wänden der Arterien Plaques bilden, was den Blutfluss einschränkt und zu Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen führen kann.
• Yoga: Eine traditionelle Praxis, die körperliche Übungen, Atemtechniken und Meditation umfasst, um Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden zu fördern.
• Meta-Analyse: Eine quantitative wissenschaftliche Untersuchungsmethode, die die Ergebnisse mehrerer Studien zusammenfasst, um übergeordnete Schlüsse zu ziehen.
• Flussvermittelte Dilatation (FMD): Ein Maß für die endotheliale Funktion, die die Fähigkeit der Blutgefäße misst, sich in Reaktion auf erhöhten Blutfluss zu erweitern.
• Statistische Heterogenität: Variabilität in den Ergebnissen zwischen verschiedenen Studien, die in einer Meta-Analyse untersucht werden.

Effectiveness of yoga on endothelial function: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Endothelial dysfunction is considered an initial step in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and plays a central role in the development of cardiovascular disease and a number of other pathologies, including diabetes, kidney failure, cancer and viral infections. Strategies that protect vascular endothelial function and slow or reverse endothelial dysfunction at an early stage could potentially serve in the prevention of vascular, cardiac and many human diseases. Although several studies have been conducted on the effects of yoga on endothelial function, their results have not yet been synthesized. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of yoga on endothelial function through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the effects of yoga practice on vascular endothelial function was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. For the research, the databases PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) were searched until August 2022. The search strategy was constructed around yoga-based techniques and endothelial function. All yoga-based intervention studies on endothelial function or dysfunction were included in this review. Due to the different methodology of the selected studies, a narrative synthesis and descriptive analysis was carried out. A formal meta-analysis of controlled trials evaluating the effect of yoga on flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) as a measure of endothelial function was carried out.

A total of 18 studies with 1043 participants were included in the review. 12 studies found improvement in endothelial function with yoga training, while 6 studies did not find a statistically robust effect. The meta-analysis (n = 395 participants, 6 studies, 7 comparisons) showed an increase in brachial FMD with yoga practice (mean difference = -1.23%; 95% confidence interval: -2.23 to -0.23; p = 0.02). Heterogeneity between studies was 43% (Tau = 0.70, χ^2 = 10.49). The risk of bias in these studies was low to moderate. No adverse effects were reported.

In summary, yoga practice improved endothelial function. Yoga could be a safe and potential integrative medicine to improve endothelial function. However, statistical heterogeneity, i.e. variation in FMD results between studies, was moderate, requiring large clinical trials to make clinical recommendations.

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