International Journal of Physiology

Asha Gandhi ¹, Sarita Kanojia ², Ajay Kukreja ³, Vivek K Sharma ⁴, Shailesh Gupta ⁵, Raj Kapoor ⁶

Affiliations
1 Professor & Head, Department of Physiology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi
2 Assistant Professor, Dept of Physiology, ESI Dental College, New Delhi
3 Associate Professor, Dept of Physiology, ESI Dental College, New Delhi
4 Assistant Professor, Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puducherry, IN
5 Assistant Professor, Dept of Physiology, I.M.S., Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
6 Professor & Head, Dept of Physiology, V.M.M. College & S.J. Hospital, New Delhi

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of yoga practice, if any, on reducing premenstrual body weight and improving reaction time or motor performance in normal healthy females. Fifty young women between age group 17-21 years volunteered for the study. The following baseline parameters were recorded in postmenstrual and premenstrual phase of a menstrual cycle (Initial menstrual cycle) at the start of yoga practice- Body weight, Auditory Reaction Time (ART) and Visual Reaction Time (VRT). Following the baseline recording, subjects were randomly divided into two groups each having 25 subjects. Group I practiced yogic exercises for a duration of 35 minutes; 5 days a week for a period of three menstrual cycles and group II served as control (non yoga group). No recording was taken in the first menstrual cycle of yoga practice. Follow up recordings were taken in postmenstrual and premenstrual phases of second and third menstrual cycle in both the groups. Yoga group depicted a significant decrease in premenstrual body weight and also Auditory and Visual Reaction Times. The study also demonstrated over all beneficial effect of yoga during post menstrual phase also as depicted by reduction in reaction time leading to improvement in performance.

Keywords

Yoga Practice, Auditory Reaction Time (art), Visual Reaction Time (vrt) Premenstrual Phase, Postmenstrual Phase Body Weight

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Vivek K. Sharma ¹, Ajay Kukreja ², S. Senthil Kumar ³, Shailesh Gupta ⁴, Sarita Kanojia ², Shilpa Khullar ²

Affiliations
1 Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puducherry, IN
2 Dept of Physiology, ESIC Dental College, New Delhi, IN
3 Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puduchery, IN
4 Dept of Physiology, IMS, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P, IN

Abstract

Present study was carried out on 60 first-year MBBS students who were assigned into two groupsyoga group (Group 1) and physical exercise group (Group 2) (30 each). Group 1 underwent yoga practices and Group 2 underwent exercise on bicycle ergometer for 40 minutes daily for twelve weeks. Formative examinations were conducted at 6 weeks (stressor 1) and 12 weeks (stressor 2). Following recordings were taken at baseline, stressor 1 and 2: Auditory (ART)&Visual reaction time (VRT), Handgrip strength endurance (HGE), Speilberger's State anxiety inventory for adults (STAIA) and inventories developed by Defense Institute for Physiology&Applied Sciences (DIPAS). In our study, it was observed that there was significant decrease in STAI-A scores in Group 1 subjects at both stressors (p < 0.001) with no change seen in Group 2 subjects. There was significant decrease in trait anxiety and depression scores at both stressors in both the groups. However, significant reduction in depression from stressor 1 to 2 occurred in only group 1 subjects. There was significant improvement in sense of wellbeing at both stressors 1 and 2 (p < 0.001) in Group 1 subjects whereas significant improvement occurred in Group 2 subjects only at stressor 2 (p<0.01). There was improvement in HGE in both groups at both stressors with more improvement from stressor 1 to 2 in Group 2 subjects. Also, there was significant reduction in ART in only Group 1 subjects (p <0.05) at stressor 2 with no change in Group 2 subjects. Our study demonstrates that both forms of intervention i.e. yoga training and physical exercises are beneficial for the subjects in reducing the effect of examination stress but the effect of effect of yoga is immediate and more pronounced on all parameters except HGE.

Keywords

Yoga, Exercise, Psychological Parameters, Hand Grip Strength, Reaction Time, Stress

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