Yoga improves quality of life and functional capacity in heart failurepatients.

In patients with either systolic or diastolic heart failure (HF), the symptoms of the disease limits the functional capacity. Yoga combines structured physical and breathing techniques and meditation to stimulate sense of well being. Despite yoga’s widespread appeal, there are limited data on whether the addition of yoga improves functional capacity or quality of life in patients with HF. The present study was conducted in 98 HF patients, who were randomly divided into two groups; yoga group (YG) (n=44) receiving standard medical therapy plus yoga therapy for 12 weeks and control group (CG) (n=48) receiving only standard medical therapy. Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire (MLWHFQ) and 6 minutes walk test (6MWT) was used to assess the quality of life and functional capacity. At the end of 12 weeks period, MLWHFQ-total was reduced by 45.0% in YG and 9.1% in CG; MLWHFQ-physical dimension was reduced by 46.4% in YG and 3.9% in CG; MLWHFQemotional dimension was reduced by 65.7% in YG and 6.6% in CG; and 6MWT distance improved by 66.2% in YG and 12.4% in CG. The results of this study demonstrates that 12 week yoga therapy enhances the improvement in functional capacity and quality of life in stable heart failure (NYHA I & II) patients receiving standard medical therapy.