Yoga Offers Little Relief to Those Suffering From Asthma

It was long held that yoga helps cope with asthma, but a new study says that it is not of much help.

 In order to determine the effectiveness of yoga in the treatment of asthma, researchers examined 14 studies done earlier.  They found very limited evidence to support yoga's effectiveness in  reducing asthma symptoms.

"Many people practice yoga for its health benefits, including asthma sufferers," said Holger Cramer, PhD, lead author of the study. "We reviewed the available data to see if it made a difference and found only weak evidence that it does. Yoga can't be considered a routine intervention for patients with asthma at this time. But it can be considered an alternative to breathing exercises for asthma patients interested in complementary interventions."

The review included 824 adults who participated in 14 different studies.  The studies looked for evidence that yoga boosts regulation, quality of life and lung function in those diagnosed with asthma. The participants included in the study were taken from North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.  Since just one trial was done on children, the effects of yoga on children could not be evaluated.

"Many asthma sufferers look to complementary therapies, such as yoga, to help relieve their symptoms," said allergist Michael Foggs, MD, ACAAI president. "If yoga helps them to feel better and breathe better, patients should by all means practice it. At the same time, we don't advise that yoga be recommended to asthma sufferers as a treatment."

Asthma causes repeated episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest congestion and severe cough during nighttime and early morning. In the United States, 1 in 12 people suffers from asthma and this number keeps increasing over the years. From 2001-2009 the number of people diagnosed with asthma grew by 4.3 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

According to the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAI) journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), for those with allergic asthma, immunotherapy is the best method to relieve symptoms caused by allergens.

The study was published in AAAI.