Mundhe Ragini, Ganji Vidya, Neeraja Veerisetty, Taranikanti Madhuri, John Nitin Ashok, Kalpana M, Umesh Madhusudhan, Gaur Archana
MBBS Final year student, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bibinagar, India.
Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, AIIMS, Bibinagar, India.
Maedica (Bucur). 2025 Mar;20(1):48-55. doi: 10.26574/maedica.2025.20.1.48.
COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Long term respiratory complications secondary to COVID-19 have been described, which were not fully explored. The severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) directly infects endothelial cells, with inducing marked endothelial damage and inflammation contributing to increased arterial stiffness. Yoga is a holistic psychosomatic approach that leads to improvement of pulmonary and cardiovascular functions. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of yoga on pulmonary functions and arterial stiffness who have suffered from COVID-19. The aim of the present interventional study was to measure and investigate the effect of yoga on the pulmonary function tests and arterial stiffness in post-COVID-19 mild and moderate cases. After taking the approval of the Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC), 30 post-COVID-19 patients were recruited into the study. The baseline arterial stiffness (oscillometric method) and baseline pulmonary functions tests were assessed (using computerized spirometer HELIOS 70). The study participants were then subjected to a yoga intervention for eight weeks. Pulmonary function tests and arterial stiffness was assessed after the yoga intervention and findings were compared with the baseline data. After eight weeks of yoga intervention, there was a statistically significant increase in the mean values of FEV1, FEV3, FVC and percentage of FEV1/FVC ratio (p<0.05), and a highly significant decrease in two arterial stiffness parameters, including brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) (p<0.001) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) (p<0.001). This shows that performing yoga regularly has a significant effect on the body vasculature and arterial stiffness. Pearson correlation test showed a positive correlation between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and baPWV (r=0.45) (p<0.001). There was also a positive correlation observed between cfPWV (r=0.37) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p<0.05). The study indicates that pulmonary function tests and arterial stiffness improve in post-COVID-19 mild and moderate cases with eight weeks of regular yoga practice.
由新型冠状病毒SARS-CoV-2引起的COVID-19已在全球范围内导致了严重的发病率和死亡率。继发于COVID-19的长期呼吸并发症已有描述，但尚未得到充分研究。严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）直接感染内皮细胞，诱导明显的内皮损伤和炎症，导致动脉僵硬度增加。瑜伽是一种整体身心疗法，可改善肺和心血管功能。因此，本研究旨在评估瑜伽对患过COVID-19者肺功能和动脉僵硬度的影响。本干预性研究的目的是测量和研究瑜伽对COVID-19后轻度和中度病例肺功能测试和动脉僵硬度的影响。在获得机构伦理委员会（IEC）批准后，30名COVID-19后患者被纳入研究。评估基线动脉僵硬度（示波法）和基线肺功能测试（使用计算机化肺量计HELIOS 70）。然后，研究参与者接受为期八周的瑜伽干预。在瑜伽干预后评估肺功能测试和动脉僵硬度，并将结果与基线数据进行比较。经过八周的瑜伽干预，FEV1、FEV3、FVC的平均值以及FEV1/FVC比值的百分比有统计学显著增加（p<0.05），并且两个动脉僵硬度参数有高度显著降低，包括臂踝脉搏波速度（baPWV）（p<0.001）和颈股脉搏波速度（cfPWV）（p<0.001）。这表明定期进行瑜伽对身体血管系统和动脉僵硬度有显著影响。Pearson相关性检验显示收缩压（SBP）与baPWV之间存在正相关（r=0.45）（p<0.001）。在cfPWV（r=0.37）与收缩压（SBP）之间也观察到正相关（p<0.05）。该研究表明，通过八周的定期瑜伽练习，COVID-19后轻度和中度病例的肺功能测试和动脉僵硬度得到改善。
