Efficacy of Yoga and Swimming in Reducing Anxiety: A Comparative Study.

Different exercise modules and yogic practices have been claimed to reduce anxiety. However, there are very few longitudinal studies to assess and to compare improvement in mental health of subjects performing yogic asanas and breathing exercises versus those performing endurance exercises like swimming. Therefore, present study was designed to compare reduction in anxiety levels with yogic postures and breathing exercises with that of swimming. This study was conducted in the Department of Physiology. Study design used was prospective randomized comparative Study. Hundred volunteers were included in the study and randomly divided into two groups; one practiced yogic asanas and breathing exercises and other practised swimming for 12 weeks. Beck’s Anxiety Inventory was used to assess anxiety level of subjects. Anxiety levels were assessed prior to the training and then after 12 weeks of training. The total score was calculated from 21 items and high scores indicated higher anxiety levels. The average anxiety scores decreased significantly (p<0.0001) in both the groups after training. In yoga group. average pretraining score of 24.25 decreased to post training score of 20.27, whereas in swimmer group it decreased from 23.57 to 20.8. However, the decrease in anxiety was similar with both modalities of exercise (p>0.05).

Effect of clomiphene citrate on sperm density in male partners of infertile couples.

Infertility is on the rise in today's world. A subnormal sperm count is frequently encountered in infertile couples. Clomiphene citrate, 1-[p-(beta-diethyl aminoethoxy) phenyl]-1,2-diphenyl chloroethylene, is an orally active nonsteroidal agent distantly related to diethylstilbestrol. It is thought to stimulate pituitary gonadotropin release by excluding estradiol from hypothalamic receptor sites. This interaction neutralizes the normal negative feedback control of estrogen and results in enhanced secretion of LH-RH, FSH-RH and gonadotropins. Testosterone is produced by the Leydig cells in response to LH secretion. The concentration of testosterone in the tubular environment is believed to maintain the gametogenic function of the testis. Clomiphene citrate in the dose of 25 mg daily for 25 days with five days rest was administered to 25 extreme oligozoospermic men (group I) and 40 moderate oligozoospermic men (group II) the cycle being continued for three months). Repeat semen analysis was done at the end of three months and all the routine seminal parameters were reevaluated. The data thus obtained was analyzed using Student's paired 't' test. The mean sperm count in Group I increased from 3.84 +/- 0.32 to 8.2 +/- 1.58 (P < 0.05) and in Group II from 13.05 +/- 0.48 to 24.55 +/- 1.73 (P < 0.001). The mean motile sperm count in Group I increased from 1.74 +/- 0.25 to 3.92 +/- 0.83 (P < 0.05) and in Group II from 8.27 +/- 0.40 to 10.05 +/- 0.56 (P < 0.01). Thus clomiphene citrate exerts its effect on spermatogenesis by raising the endogenous serum FSH, LH and testosterone levels to initiate and maintain gametogenesis (10). Researchers opined that this increase in endogenous gonadotrophins manifests itself in improving the sperm count, sperm motility and to certain extent morphology of the sperms, when there is no end-organ pathology.