Abstract

Background: Diabetes initiates degenerative changes in various organs of body. Lungs are also affected, producing restrictive and obstructive abnormalities and predisposing them to infections including tuberculosis. These may lead to decrease in pulmonary functions. Timely intervention can lead to reversal of this problem. Yoga can offer simple and cost-effective adjunct. Objectives: To study the effect of integrated yoga therapy (IYT) on glycemic control and pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in borderline noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients of Central India.
Materials and Methods: Randomly selected 50 newly diagnosed patients of borderline NIDDM in the age group of 30-60 years who were not put on any antidiabetic medicines and were advised diet therapy and exercise as therapeutic measures by their physicians prospective study. We offered IYT and diet therapy for 3 months to these patients. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), postprandial blood glucose (PBG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and PFTs were measured at the outset of study and at the end of 3 months. Statistical analysis is done by paired t-test.
Results: Showed a significant decrease in FBG (117.8-99.56 mg/dl), PBG (177.8-154.82 mg/dl), HbA1c (5.93-5.71%) and improvement in PFTs (forced vital capacity [FVC] 2.59-2.95 L, forced expired volume 1 (FEV1) 2.05-2.41 L, FEV1/FVC 79.09-81.54%, peak expiratory flow rate 6.99-7.33 L/s). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated the efficacy of IYT in lowering of FBG, PBG, HbA1c and improving the lung functions, i.e. preventing the targeting of lungs in NIDDM.