Context:Asana, pranayama, and meditation are three main techniques of yoga practiced in India over thousands of years to attain functional harmony between the body and mind. Recent studies on long-term yogic practices have shown improvements in cardiovascular functions.Aim:The present study was conducted to ascertain if a short-term practice of pranayama and meditation had improvements in cardiovascular functions in healthy individuals with respect to age, gender, and body mass index (BMI).Settings and Design:This interventional study was conducted in the Department of physiology of S.N. Medical College, Bagalkot.Patients and Methods:Fifty healthy subjects (24 males and 26 females) of 20–60 years age group, fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria underwent two hours daily yoga program for 15 days taught by a certified yoga teacher. Pre and post yoga cardiovascular functions were assessed by recording pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean blood pressure.Statistical analysis used:The parameters were analyzed by Student's t test.Results:There was significant reduction in resting pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial blood pressure after practicing pranayama and meditation for 15 days. The response was similar in both the genders, both the age groups, <40 yrs and >40 yrs and both the groups with BMI, <25 kg/m2 and >25 kg/m2.Conclusion:This study showed beneficial effects of short term (15 days) regular pranayama and meditation practice on cardiovascular functions irrespective of age, gender, and BMI in normal healthy individuals.

Context:Yoga is an ancient science, which originated in India. Pranayama has been assigned a very important role in yogic system of exercises. It is known that regular practice of breathing exercises (pranayama) increases parasympathetic tone, decreases sympathetic activity, and improves cardiovascular functions. Different types of breathing exercises alter autonomic balance for good by either decrease in sympathetic or increase in parasympathetic activity. Mukh Bhastrika (yogic bellows), a type of pranayama breathing when practiced alone, has demonstrated increase in sympathetic activity and load on heart, but when practiced along with other types of pranayama has showed improved cardiac performance.Aim:The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of long term practice of fast pranayama (Mukh Bhastrika) on autonomic balance on individuals with stable cardiac function.Settings and Design:This interventional study was conducted in the department of physiology.Materials and Methods:50 healthy male subjects of 18 - 25 years age group, fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria underwent Mukh Bhastrika training for 12 weeks. Cardiovascular autonomic reactivity tests were performed before and after the training.Statistical Analysis Used:The parameters were analyzed by Student t test.Results:This study showed an increase in parasympathetic activity i.e., reduced basal heart rate, increase in valsalva ratio and deep breathing difference in heart rate; and reduction in sympathetic activity i.e., reduction in fall of systolic blood pressure on posture variation.Conclusion:It can be concluded that Mukh Bhastrika has beneficial effect on cardiac autonomic reactivity, if practiced for a longer duration.

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Context:The risk of becoming a diabetic for an individual with a positive family history of diabetes increases by two- to fourfold.Aim:To record the anthropometric indices and the physical fitness in individuals with family history of type-2 diabetes mellitus and compare these results with those of controls.Settings and Design:This is a comparative study done in the department of physiology.Materials and Methods:Thirty-two apparently healthy medical students with family history of type-2 Diabetes Mellitus were chosen for the study and matched with equal number of controls. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, thigh circumference, upper segment and lower segment) were recorded. Body mass index (BMI), waist–hip ratio (WHR), waist–thigh ratio (WTR), and upper to lower segment ratio (US/LS ratio) were calculated. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured. Physical fitness was evaluated using Queen's College step test protocol. Rate Pressure Product (RPP) and Physical Fitness Index (PFI) were calculated before and after exercise.Statistical Analysis:Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software.Results:BMI, WHR, US/LS ratio, and RPP at rest were significantly higher (P < 0.05), whereas WTR, PFI, and RPP after exercise lower (P > 0.05) in cases as compared to controls.Conclusions:It can be concluded that apparently healthy individuals with family history of type-2 diabetes mellitus have higher anthropometric values and lower physical fitness than the controls.

PowerPoint presentations (PPTs) have become routine in medical colleges because of their flexible and varied presentation capabilities. Research indicates that students prefer PPTs over the chalk-and-talk method, and there is a lot of debate over advantages and disadvantages of PPTs. However, there is no clear evidence that PPTs improve student learning/performance. Furthermore, there are a variety of learning styles with sex differences in classrooms. It is the responsibility of teacher/facilitator and student to be aware of learning style preferences to improve learning. The present study asked the following research question: do PPTs equally affect the learning of students with different learning styles in a mixed sex classroom? After we assessed students' predominant learning style according to the sensory modality that one most prefers to use when learning, a test was conducted before and after a PPT to assess student performance. The results were analyzed using Student's t-test and ANOVA with a Bonferroni post hoc test. A z-test showed no sex differences in preferred learning styles. There was significant increase in posttest performance compared with that of the pretest in all types of learners of both sexes. There was also a nonsignificant relationship among sex, learning style, and performance after the PPT. A PPT is equally effective for students with different learning style preferences and supports mixed sex classrooms.