Alternative therapy: yoga, an ancient technique for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

Yoga as an integrated form of exercise may have a profound and positive effect in reducing symptoms and treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), epidemiological studies suggest.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disease that affects the large intestine and includes symptoms of cramps, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, and diarrhea or constipation.

Yoga, the ancient technique to harmonize the external and internal well-being of the body, through breath control, meditation, body movement and gestures… has been well known to people in the western world and some parts of the world. from Asia due to the health benefits reported by various reputable institutes. ‘ research and supported by health advocates.

In a randomized controlled trial to compare the efficacy of yoga with usual care, non-pharmacological or pharmacological interventions for patients with IBS by reviewing the literature published in MEDLINE/Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, CAM- QUEST, CAMbase and IndMED. As of November 2015, after the selected studies met the criteria and guidelines, the researcher presented the following results

1. Yoga participants expressed a significantly beneficial effect over conventional treatment in IBS,

2. The yoga intervention demonstrated a significant decrease in bowel symptoms, IBS severity, and anxiety.

3. The yoga group showed better quality of life and physical functioning compared to other treatment groups.

4. The yoga group also showed little or no adverse effects in the selected studies

Dr Schumann D, the lead authors, said: “The findings of this systematic review suggest that yoga could be a feasible and safe adjunctive treatment for people with IBS.” However, after accounting for other confounding factors, he continued, “no recommendation can be made regarding yoga as a routine intervention for patients with IBS due to major flaws in study methods.”

Additional study analysis of a total of 51 adolescent participants (14-17 years) randomly assigned to a 6-week twice-weekly standardized Iyengar yoga group program or a wait-list usual-care control group, conducted by the University of California, the scientists presented the results as follows

1. The yoga group showed a significant improvement in improved physical functioning

2. Compared to control, yoga participants also reported significant improvement in IBS symptoms, global improvement, disability, psychological distress, sleep quality, and fatigue.

3. 46% of YAs reported minimal clinically significant reduction in pain

4. At the end of the intervention, the YA group after the lesson also reported a reduction in worst pain, constipation, and nausea.

After accounting for other confounding factors, lead author Dr Evans S stated, “The findings suggest that a brief IY intervention is a feasible and safe add-on treatment for youth with IBS, leading to benefit in a set of IBS-specific problems”. and domains of general functioning for YA” and “yoga interventions can be more fruitful when they are developmentally adapted.”

Further studied illustration of 35 adult participants who met ROME III criteria for IBS enrolled, 27 of 35 participants (77%) completed treatment and pre- and post-treatment visits (89% women, 11% men; M ( SD) age = 36 (13)), and 20 of 27 (74%) randomized to 16 biweekly Iyengar yoga group sessions or a walking program and a 6-month follow-up found that:

1. The yoga group showed improvement before and after treatment compared to the control

2. The yoga group before and after treatment also demonstrated significant decreases in measures of IBS severity, visceral sensitivity, and severity of somatic symptoms compared to the walking group.

At 6-month follow-up, the researcher said, “overall GI symptoms for walking continued to decrease significantly, whereas for yoga, GI symptoms rebounded toward baseline levels.”

Evidence from the finding suggests that yoga can be used as an adjunctive intervention in support of standard therapy for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).