Yoga helps regulate BP, claims new study

New Delhi: A recent study has revealed that six months of ‘yoga’ lifestyle intervention produces modest but clinically meaningful reductions in 24-hour ambulatory ‘systolic blood pressure’ (upper level BP) and “diastolic blood pressure” (lower level BP). The study, published in the Journal of Hypertension, was conducted by researchers from the department of neurophysiology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in the national capital.

This inference was the result of a randomised study of 60 patients to analyse the effect of yoga lifestyle on ambulatory blood pressure in patients with high-normal blood pressure. The patients were divided into two groups. Patients in Group A (yoga) were assigned to practice yoga — an intensive lifestyle modification, while patients in Group B were prescribed lifestyle modifications. “This study has demonstrated that yoga intervention in patients with prehypertension can significantly reduce blood pressure,” said Dr Nandini Agarwal.