Improvement of myocardial perfusion status in response to indian vedic breathing

Introduction: Yoga is the buzz word all over the world today. Amidst their busy schedule, people tend to ignore their personal health. Management of various disorders, especially those involving interventions, surgical or radiological, is very expensive. The Indian Vedic Exercises, of which Pranaayaama is one, emphasize on prevention of the diseases in order to keep the individual in good health. It is equally applicable to those who have already suffered from various disorders and in whom both improvement and/or avoidance of further deterioration are required. However, no Objective assessment of the disease status in response to these exercises has been reported so far. Objectives: This pilot study has been undertaken on patients with reversible myocardial perfusion defects to Objectively monitor the improvements in the myocardial perfusion in response to a breathing exercise, Pranayama, a breathing technique prescribed in the Indian Vedic Sciences. Methods: Two patients who were found to have reversible myocardial perfusion defects were taken up in this study. These defects were diagnosed from the myocardial perfusion SPECT done in stressed (on Tread Mill) and resting states with 99m Technetium labeled MIBI.These patients were taught the pranayama technique which is done for about 30 minutes every day. At the end of four months from the commencement of this technique, the myocardial perfusion SPECT studies were repeated. Details of the exercise in the form of a CD are available on request. Results: Overall good improvements were observed in all the quantitative parameters in the TMT and SPECT studies in the studies done after the pranayama procedures in both the patients. Perfusion defects seen in the stress images of the initial studies have almost completely reversed in the stress images of the later study. Patients are asymptomatic and are leading a comfortable life. Conclusion: This is only a study of two cases to Objectively evaluate the effects of pranayama and to know its effects on myocardial perfusion. Since the results are encouraging, we have recruited more volunteers to gather data on a large number of patients. We conclude that, this exercise, since inexpensive and has no adverse effects, should be tried on a large number of patients, who are otherwise unfit or unwilling for any interventional procedures, and on those who are willing to do this exercise. (authors)