Abstract

The practice of pranayama modulates the cardiac autonomic status and improves cardio-respiratory functions suggesting an enhanced parasympathetic and blunted sympathetic activity, leading to early return of vitals to baseline. Yoga benefits for cardiopulmonary endurance in healthy people which manifest clinically as improved lung capacity, increased oxygen delivery, decreased VO2 and respiratory rate, and decreased resting heart rate, resulting in overall improved exercise capacity. Hence, we decided to study the effect of Pranayama on heart rate and six minute walk distance on six minute walk test in healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: It was a longitudinal study. 30 healthy subjects of age group 18-30 years were recruited for this study. The study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Santosh Medical College and Hospitals, Ghaziabad. Heart rate was counted by palpating the radial pulse for one full minute. Six minute walk test was conducted as per American Thoracic Society (ATS) guideline and six minute walk distance recorded. Pranayam training was given by yoga instructor two times per week for 40 days that consisted of warm up for 5 min, Pranayama for 25 min and Meditation for 10 min. Heart rate was recorded again before and after six minute walk test. Six minute walk distance noted. Statistical Analysis: Data was entered in to MS Excel and expressed as Mean and SD. Differences between groups before and after intervention was assessed by t-test using SPSS 23.0 software. Results: It was observed that there was a statistically significant decrease heart rate after 4 weeks of Pranayama training which decreased from 105.07 + 5.842 beats per minute to 98.07 + 6.422 beats per minute after six minute walk test, p < 0.001. There was a statistically significant increase in walk distance on six minute walk test after 4 weeks of Pranayama training from 526.67 + 25.795 m to 682.60 + 25.425 m, p < 0.001. Discussion: The present study revealed that after 4 weeks of Pranayam training there was a significant decline in heart rate after six minute walk test. There was a significant increase in six-min walk distance after Pranayama. Decline in heart rate may be due to the reduced sympathetic activity and increased parasympathetic activity, leading to improvement in vagal tone. Improvement in the walked distance may be due to improved lung capacity, increased oxygen delivery, decreased VO2 and respiratory rate, and decreased resting heart rate, resulting in overall improved exercise capacity. So, Yoga can be considered as a non – pharmacological intervention to improve cardiovascular functions and exercise capacity

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