Patients suffering from many brain diseases have been seen benefiting from doing yoga. But for the patients of Epilepsy, which is one of the most difficult diseases, doing yoga along with medicines not only helped in controlling the disease but also reduced the chances of having seizures to a great extent.
Will yoga cure epilepsy?
Dr. Kirandeep Kaur, who is doing PhD in the Neurology Department of AIIMS, conducted this study on 160 patients suffering from epilepsy. This study has been published in the American Journal of Neurology. The study has been done in collaboration with the Center for Integrative Medicine department. According to Dr. Manjari Tripathi, Head of the Neurology Department of AIIMS, this is the first study in the world that has proved the difference by making some patients do yoga and other patients do normal exercises that seem like yoga.
How was the research done?
In fact, out of the 160 patients included in the study by AIIMS, 80 patients were given yoga asanas, the remaining 80 patients were included in the control group and were given Sham Yoga i.e. yoga-like exercise. These patients were not given information about important parts of yoga-like breathing speed and inhaling and exhaling. The results of this study which lasted for 6 months surprised even the doctors. Those who were doing yoga exercises properly with factors like breathing exercises i.e. inhaling, exhaling, and stopping, got 7 times more benefit than the other patients.
During the study, all the patients were made to do yoga for 45 to 60 minutes 5 days a week. A total of 7 sessions were taught under the supervision of a yoga guru. For the rest of the day, patients were called to do yoga. These patients were given subtle exercises, pranayama, and meditation as part of yoga activities. 50 percent of the total was meditation.
After 3 months, stress and anxiety reduced significantly in epilepsy patients. The result of this was that their epileptic seizures were also reduced. The seizures of many patients were reduced by up to 7 times. Medicines to prevent epileptic seizures continued for all the patients. All of them have been advised to continue doing yoga continuously.
Yoga will make your life better
The number of epilepsy patients in India is more than 1 crore. These patients have to face exclusion from studies, jobs, and social life. In this disease, due to excessive current in the neurons of the brain, the patient starts having seizures, loses control over his body and many times becomes unconscious. There is no cure for this disease, but with continuous medicines and yoga, patients can improve their lives. Now efforts are also being made in AIIMS to see whether an epilepsy patient can be completely freed from seizures.
(PC: Freepik)
