Effect of Yoga in Stress Management in Patients with Epilepsy- A Literature Review

Abstract

Objective: The major goal of this research evaluation was to see if yoga therapy may help people with epilepsy manage stress.
 Introduction: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that has a high psychological and physical toll. Self-reported seizures are frequently caused by stress, individual and many patients with epilepsy believe that reducing stress improves seizure management.
 Methodology: An electronic search of published research publications was conducted using Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and other databases, and the results were analysed to determine the effectiveness of yoga in the treatment of stress in epileptic patients." Based on inclusion criteria, few papers were included in the literature review like randomised controlled trials, systematic literature reviews, systematic reviews, Cochrane review, and pilot study.
 Results: This review looked at how yoga affects stress through multiple mechanisms and found that it helps epileptic patients reduce stress and improve their quality of life.
 Conclusion: This study found that yoga can be one of the alternative methods for reducing stress in epileptics. Yoga should be practised by epileptics to reduce stress and seizure frequency, as well as increase overall well-being. It doesn't have any negative side effects.

A Review of Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Yoga in Controlling Seizures in Patients with Epilepsy

“…Despite the shortcomings of those non-pharmacological therapies mentioned earlier, yoga, an ancient traditional Indian psychophilosophical-cultural method as a mind-body practice consisting of positive behavioral modification (yamas and niyamas), physical posture practice (asanas), breath regulation (pranayama), sensation control (pratyahara), and meditative practices (dharana dhyana and samadhi) (Kulal et al, 2021;Patwardhan, 2017), has many superiorities, such as it can be a home-based practice that is easily performed (Wadhen & Cartwright, 2021). Specifically in epilepsy, the potential of yoga as a complementary alternative therapy uniting body, mind, soul, and spirit (Perkins, 2020) has been unveiled since it can lower stress, improve quality of life, reduce psychiatric difficulties, decrease seizure frequency by stimulating the vagus nerve, increase central inhibitory Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels, alter blood flow of the central nervous system, and lead to a shift in autonomic balance toward relative parasympathetic dominance (Farnia et al, 2021;Kanhere et al, 2018;Kulal et al, 2021). Epilepsy has neurological, cognitive, psychological, and social consequences that affect the quality of life well beyond the occurrence of seizures in people with epilepsy.…”