Yoga improves the quality of life of people with sudden cardiac arrhythmias

One yoga session per week lowers blood pressure and heart rate
New results in clinical trials show that patients diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation get significant health benefits if they attend a yoga session once a week. Thus it is advisable for those affected to deal with yoga.

Yoga is credited with some positive effects on our human body. Scientists from the European Society of Cardiology have now found in a study that patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation gain massive health benefits from a one-week yoga session a week. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing".

Doing yoga once a week can help to significantly improve the quality of life of people with sudden cardiac arrhythmias. (Image: GTeam / Fotolia.com)

Breathing and yoga movements bring significant physical and mental benefits
The 12-week clinical study found that the quality of life of patients with sudden cardiac arrhythmia increased significantly when they participated in yoga sessions for three months. These sessions need to be attended once a week for one hour each to gain significant physical and mental benefits for our health, the researchers explain. When patients participate in yoga classes, they gain a better quality of life, a lower heart rate and lower blood pressure compared to the values ​​of patients without access to yoga classes, the researchers say. Perhaps the deep respiration of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves leads to fewer fluctuations in the heart rate. Respiration and movement could have additional positive effects on blood pressure, says study author Maria Wahlström, from Sophiahemmet University in Sweden.

Affected persons often suffer from severe limitations in the quality of life
People with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation suffer from a sudden irregular or too fast heartbeat. This usually ends on its own within the next 48 hours. About two percent of the population in Western countries are affected by this disease, say the doctors. For example, problems with breathing, chest pain and dizziness can occur as a result of the condition. Many patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation suffer from severe impairments in their quality of life because they live in constant fear of the onset of the disease, the researchers explain.

Yoga future complementary treatment method to standard therapy?
The latest study included eighty patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups. A group of weekly yoga sessions and a combined standard treatment for atrial fibrillation. The second group received only the standard treatment for atrial fibrillation, say the scientists. By analyzing blood counts, heart rate, and quality of life, Wahlström and the research team found that patients in the yoga group had experienced significant increases in mental health. In addition, there was a significant decrease in their blood pressure and heart rate compared to patients in the standard treatment group, add the physicians. Thus, yoga could be a useful complementary treatment to standard therapy.

Yoga should be offered to help patients relax
Yoga can improve the quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation because it gives them a way to better control their symptoms and not be completely helpless, Wahlström explains. Many of the patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation are very stressed. According to the researchers, yoga should therefore be offered as a supplementary therapy to help those affected to relax. (As)