Transient Effect of Specific Yogic Posture on Gastric Motility in Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects multiple organs, notably the gastrointestinal (GI) system, often causing delayed gastric emptying and impaired gastric motility due to autonomic neuropathy. These dysfunctions contribute to symptoms such as nausea and bloating, impacting the patient quality of life. Yoga, a traditional mind-body practice, has demonstrated benefits on autonomic regulation and GI function. This study aims to evaluate the transient effects of a series of yogic asanas on gastric motility in patients with DM, using objective measures in a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial on DM patients of age between 40 and 60 years. The 68 patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups as study group and control group. In the study group, the gastric motility was assessed at baseline and immediately after the series of asanas 20 min and supine rest in the control group for 20 min.

Results: The present study have shown that after practicing specific series of asanas, the subjects have shown a significant increase in dominant frequency (P < 0.04), dominant power (P < 0.05), and normogastric waves (P < 0.02) with significant decrease in random blood sugar (P < 0.04) compared to control groups.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that series of asanas had an influence on modulating the gastric motility in patients with DM; these findings can be employed therapeutically to treat GI symptoms.