ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Yoga improves maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnancy. Platelet Count and Uric acid (Ua) are valuable screening measures in high-risk pregnancy. AIM: To examine the effect of yoga on platelet counts and serum Ua in high-risk pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This stratified randomized controlled trial, conducted by S-VYASA University at St. John's Medical College Hospital and Gunasheela Maternity Hospital, recruited 68 women with high-risk pregnancy (30 yoga and 38 controls) in the twelfth week of pregnancy. The inclusion criteria were: Bad obstetrics history, twin pregnancies, maternal age < 20 or > 35 years, obesity (BMI > 30), and genetic history of pregnancy complications. Those with normal pregnancy, anemia (< 10 grams%dl), h/o clotting disorders; renal, hepatic or heart disease; seizure disorder; or structural abnormalities in the pelvis, were excluded. The yoga group practiced simple meditative yoga (three days / week for three months). RESULTS: At baseline, all women had normal platelet counts (> 150×10(9)/L) with a decrease as pregnancy advanced. Ua (normal at baseline) increased in both groups. No one developed abnormal thrombocytopenia or hyperuricemia. Healthy reduction in platelet count (twelfth to twentieth week) occurred in a higher (P < 0.001, Chi(2) test) number of women in the yoga group than the control group. A similar trend was found in uric acid. Significantly lesser number of women in the yoga group (n = 3) developed pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) / pre-eclampsia (PE) than those in the control group (n = 12), with absolute risk reduction (ARR) by 21%. CONCLUSION: Antenatal integrated yoga from the twelfth week is safe and effective in promoting a healthy progression of platelets and uric acid in women with high-risk pregnancy, pointing to healthy hemodilution and better physiological adaptation.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: While previous studies have shown the potential effects of yoga in normal pregnancies, this randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of yoga in prevention of pregnancy complications in high-risk pregnancies for the first time. METHODS: 68 high-risk pregnant women were recruited from two maternity hospitals in Bengaluru, India and were randomized into yoga and control groups. The yoga group (n=30) received standard care plus one-hour yoga sessions, three times a week, from the 12th to the 28th week of gestation. The control group (n=38) received standard care plus conventional antenatal exercises (walking) during the same period. RESULTS: Significantly fewer pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), preeclampsia, gestational diabetes (GDM) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) cases were observed in the yoga group (p=0.018, 0.042, 0.049, 0.05 respectively). Significantly fewer Small for Gestational Age (SGA) babies and newborns with low APGAR scores (p=0.006) were born in the yoga group (p=0.033). CONCLUSION: This first randomized study of yoga in high-risk pregnancy has shown that yoga can potentially be an effective therapy in reducing hypertensive related complications of pregnancy and improving fetal outcomes. Additional data is needed to confirm these results and better explain the mechanism of action of yoga in this important area.
Subject(s)
Pregnancy Complications/prevention & control , Pregnancy, High-Risk , Yoga/psychology , Female , Humans , India , PregnancyABSTRACT
Endometriosis is defined as the presence of tissue, histologically similar to endometrium, in any other site but that of uterine cavity. Transplantation of endometrial tissue that comes as a retrograde menstrual flow is the most accepted possible theory. Endometriosis is associated with marked subfertility, but the mechanism of causation of infertility is poorly understood unless it has caused very definite anatomical distortion of internal genitalia. Management of infertility in endometriosis is discussed in detail.
