A review of yoga programs for four leading risk factors of chronic diseases

Yoga, a form of physical activity, is rapidly gaining in popularityand has many health benefits. Yet healthcare providers havebeen slow to recognize yoga for its ability to improve healthconditions, and few interventions have been developed that takefull advantage of its benefits. The purpose of this articleis to review published studies using yoga programs and to determinethe effect of yoga interventions on common risk factors of chronicdiseases (overweight, hypertension, high glucose level and highcholesterol). A systematic search yielded 32 articles publishedbetween 1980 and April 2007. The studies found that yoga interventionsare generally effective in reducing body weight, blood pressure,glucose level and high cholesterol, but only a few studies examinedlong-term adherence. Additionally, not enough studies includeddiverse populations at high risk for diabetes and its relatedcommon health problems.