title: Increased heart rate variability but no effect on blood pressure from 8 weeks of hatha yoga - a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Yoga exercises are known to decrease stress and restore autonomic balance. Yet knowledge about the physiological effects of inversion postures is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of inversion postures (head below the heart) on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve healthy women and men took part in an 8-week yoga program (60 min once a week). BP was measured with an automatic Omron mx3 oscillometric monitoring device and HRV with a Holter 24-hour ECG at baseline and 8 weeks after the intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant effect of inversion postures on BP. Nine out of 12 participants showed a significant increase in HRV (p < 0.05) at night (2 hours) on pNN50% (12.7 ± 12.5 to 18.2 ± 13.3). There were no significant changes in other HRV measures such as NN50, LF, HF, LF/HF ratio, LF normalized units (n.u.), HF n.u. and RMSSD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Eight weeks of hatha yoga improved HRV significantly which suggests an increased vagal tone and reduced sympathetic activity.
authors: Centre for Family Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Alfred Nobels allé 12, SE-14183, Huddinge, Sweden.
authors: Marian E
authors: ME
authors: Papp
authors: Petra
authors: P
authors: Lindfors
authors: Niklas
authors: N
authors: Storck
authors: Per E
authors: PE
authors: Wändell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects
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