Effect of Yogic exercise on static Spirometery values in normal healthy individuals

Introduction: Yogic practices can be a very good exercise for maintaining proper health and has a profound effect on the lung functions of an individual. They are also used as psycho-physiological stimuli to increase the physiological functionsand human performance. Materials & Methods: The present study was conducted on 60 male medical students in first yearM.B.B.S, who came voluntarily as subjects for the project with written consent. Their age ranged between 18-24 years. All the participants were given training for 15 days by a certified yoga teacher and were allowed to practice pranayama and suryanamaskar exercise for one hour every day in the evening for a duration of six months. Five types of pranayama namely; Bhastrika pranayama, Anulomavilom pranayama, Bhramari pranayama and Pranava pranayama were chosen for this study. Various static spirometry tests were done to measure the Tidal volume (TV), Slow vital capacity (SVC), Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV), Expiratory reserve volume (ERV). Pulmonary function test was performed in all the participants using computerized pulmonary testing machine (Helios401, RMS).Results:The obtained data was analyzed for statistical significance using SPSS software of 22.0 version followed by students t test and p<0.005 was considered the level of significance. There was significant increase in all these variables(p<0.001) in the study group after six months of yoga. Conclusion: From this study we concluded that, the practice of yoga can be advocated to improve respiratory efficiency for healthy individuals as well as an alternative therapy or as adjunct to conventional therapy in respiratory diseases and improve the anesthetic fitness for cardiothoracic surgery. ⇑ Corresponding author at: K. Ambareesha Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, MNR Medical College & Hospital, Sangareddy, Telangana, India E-mail address: drambreeshphysio@gmail.com