Can yoga help prevent or relieve diabetesIJ With diabetes emerging as a major disease burden for India over the past two decades, the Union AYUSH Ministry has asked the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a research wing of the Health Ministry, to conduct a study to assess the impact of yoga on diabetes.
A senior official from the ICMR said, “we have been asked to look at impact of yoga on diabetes. We will soon finalise a protocol in this direction. After which we will rope in experts to conduct the study.”
So far the effect of yogic practices on the management of diabetes has not been investigated well, though there have been sporadic studies here and there carried out in our country to evaluate the effect of yoga on diabetes. But mostly they were done on small number of patients.
This is for the first time that the premier health research agency such as ICMR has been involved to look into the impact of Yoga, which is one of the many Indian Alternate Traditional medicine system of India, on the diabetes which is rapidly spreading its wings across the country.
Yoga got a major boost at the world level due to concentrated efforts from Prime Minister Narendra Modi under whose endevaour last year UN agreed to hold June 21 as World Yoga Day.
Since then, various schemes and activities have been undertaken to push the Yoga which is seen as useful system for the treatment of certain diseases and preservation of health in normal individuals.
BK Sahay, former Professor of Medicine, Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad and Chief Investigator, Diabetes and Yoga Project, Vemana Yoga Research Institute, Hyderabad in a review article in a journal talked about the useful role of yoga in the control of diabetes mellitus. He said their study has shown that due to yoga fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels came down significantly.
“Good glycaemic status can be maintained for long periods of time. There was a lowering of drug requirement and the incidence of acute complications like infection and ketosis was significantly reduced. There were significant changes in the insulin kinetics and those of counter-regulatory hormones like cortisol.”
“There was a fall in free fatty acids suggesting a better insulin sensitivity and decrease in insulin resistant, with a probable protective effect on beta cell function. There is a beneficial effect on the co-morbid conditions like hypertension and dyslipidemia. Yogic practices are useful in all age groups and can be performed in all seasons and are useful for people who travel frequently,” he added.