TDNet Discover

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of adults, and hypertension is a major risk factor. Exercise has a significant impact on treating hypertension, but some patients need a lower intensity regimen. Yoga could bridge that gap. Objective: To evaluate whether yoga could be an effective adjunctive therapy in the management of hypertension which could lead to lowering cardiovascular disease. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: The following databases: PubMed, Ebscohost, Discover at South College, and Cochrane were searched for articles using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two systematic reviews and one iv randomized controlled trial were chosen for quality based on the Oxford Center for EvidenceBased Medicine (OCEBM) grading of evidence and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Results: The systematic reviews tentatively found a positive correlation with yoga decreasing blood pressure, but the reviews were unable to definitively comment on yoga's effect on hypertension due to the diverse quality of studies and randomized controlled trials. The randomized controlled trial found with statistical significance that yoga decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Conclusion: Yoga cannot be definitively suggested as an adjunct to treating hypertension due to the diversity in methodological quality of the literature. However, due to the lack of adverse side effects reported and the positive although statistically unquantified results of yoga's effects on hypertension, it can be marginally recommended.