Background:Yoga is a science that facilitates homeostasis, an ancient way of life intended to improve the quality of life of an individual. Practice of yoga is proposed to alter the autonomic nervous system and affect the cardiovascular functioning. This study was intended to assess the influence of short-term practice of yoga for a month on heart rate variability (HRV).Materials and Methods:Totally, 40 healthy male volunteers in the age group of 30–60 years willing to practice yoga for a month were included in the study. HRV was assessed using HRV device (RMS Vagus, India). Preinterventional assessment of HRV was done in these subjects. Practice of yoga that included a set of physical postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation (dhyana) were performed for an hour daily for 1 month under the guidance of a certified yoga instructor. Postinterventional assessment of HRV was done. The values were expressed in median and their interquartile range, and statistical analysis was done to compare the changes using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.Results:Thirty-two of 40 subjects recruited for yoga practice completed the study protocol. Analysis of HRV revealed that in time domain parameters, SDNN increased from 33.60 (31.41–44.82) to 42.11 (34.43–57.51), RMSSD increased from 22.00 (16.00–33.80) to 25.6 (17.0–34.8), and PNN50 increased from 2.45 (0.80–15.38) to 7.35 (1.40–18.57) after intervention. In the frequency domain parameters, the low-frequency (LF) power spectrum reduced from 39.30 (25.1–46.25) to 30.40 (22.75–40.62) and LF/high-frequency ratio was reduced from 2.62 (1.91–4.07) to 2.28 (1.4–3.07) after 1 month practice of yoga. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Conclusion:Autonomic balance tilts toward parasympathetic predominance after 1 month practice of yoga.

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Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were one of the first few cytokines to be discovered. The normative data for levels of cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α in particular and all other cytokines in general have not yet been established well. The normal levels for each of the cytokines vary from one race to another. Therefore, all studies need to be done in cases and controls belonging to the same race or same populations. The kits for cytokine assays are expensive and running the assays is laborious and time consuming. It is recommended that the serum/plasma samples are run in duplicates and triplicates to avoid error. Immunology and the field of cytokines is an area which has many domains unexplored. As yet, it is not clearly understood by what mechanisms and pathways each of the cytokines alter the levels of other cytokines. Exercise or physical activity is an intervention which can be administered easily and levels of cytokines measured before and after intervention in same individuals taking all the above mentioned factors into consideration. Hence it is imperative that we look into studies on exercise and cytokines to do further research in the field of cytokines.

Plasma IFN-γ decreases with one bout of acute moderate exercise, it decreases further with one bout of acute strenuous exercise and increases at end of one month of regular moderate exercise, which is more than baseline value. This shows that regular moderate exercise has beneficial effects on health by way of increasing plasma IFN-γ level.

In Bangalore city, levels of NO2 and particulate matter, temperature, rainfall, and season increase asthma exacerbations.