Benefits of Yoga for African American Heart Failure Patients

Abstract

Yoga therapy offered additional benefits to the standard medical care of predominantly AA HF patients by improving cardiovascular endurance, QoL, inflammatory markers, and flexibility.

Mind–Body Approaches to Treating Mental Health Symptoms Among Disadvantaged Populations: A Comprehensive Review

“…[28][29][30][32][33][34][37][38][39][40][41][58][59][60] However, in a meta-analysis, Goyal et al (2014) found that meditation programs were similar in effectiveness to exercise, progressive muscle relaxation, or cognitive-behavioral therapy when compared with inactive controls. 31 In a meta-analysis of mindfulness-based therapies, Khoury et al (2013) found that these treatments were more effective than psychoeducation, supportive therapy, relaxation, and imagery, but they were not more effective than antidepressants or cognitivebehavioral therapy.…”

“…[54][55][56][57][58]61,64 The remaining studies reviewed the efficacy of interventions based on mindfulness-based interventions, including yoga, meditation, and guided imagery. 51,59,60,62,[64][65][66][67][68][69][70] The studies reviewed here used mindfulness-based interventions in a wide range of high-risk disadvantaged populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, individuals with chronic health conditions (including AIDS and breast cancer), drug and alcohol users, and victims of interpersonal violence and trauma. All of the reviewed studies provided evidence that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in improving physical and mental health, functioning, self-care, and overall quality of life.…”

“…The identified studies provide preliminary evidence that mindfulness-based interventions are efficacious in reducing mental health symptoms [50][51][52][53][54][55] and improving general health, [56][57][58][59][60] daily functioning, interpersonal relationships, and overall quality of life. 55,[61][62][63][64][65] Manuscripts included in the review are presented in Table 1.…”

“…Furthermore, the yoga group displayed an increase of 22% in their treadmill time on the post-treatment exercise test, whereas the standard care group's time decreased by 5%. 59 Kubo et al (2011) 60 also examined a yoga intervention for heart failure in a multiethnic population (62% African-American). In this pilot study, 14 patients participated in two 1-hour yoga classes for 8 weeks.…”

Therapeutic heat and cold in cardiac rehabilitation

“…A stressful life, anxiety and depression increase the risk of heart diseases. In this regard, yoga therapy has been found to offer doi: 10.7243/2055-2386-4-11 extra benefits to African American HF patients by improving cardiovascular endurance, quality of life, inflammatory markers, and flexibility [31]. Another study found that relaxation techniques benefitted the quality of life of Chinese patients with chronic HF [32].…”