ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: The modality of exercise that is most beneficial and easy to perform has become a topic of research. Yogic exercises are being widely studied; however, postulated benefits of yogic exercises over other exercises must be scientifically explored. Prospective randomized comparative studies involving yoga and other endurance exercises are conspicuous by their absence. AIM: This study was, therefore, designed to assess and compare the effects of yogic training and swimming on pulmonary functions in normal healthy young volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 100 volunteers were inducted into the study and randomly divided into two groups: One group underwent 12 weeks training for yogic exercises and other for swimming. The training and data acquisition was done in small cohorts of 10 subjects each. The subjects were assessed by studying their anthropometric parameters and pulmonary function parameters (FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio, PEFR, FEF25-75%, FEF 0.2-1.2 l and MVV) both before and after training. RESULTS: All parameters showed statistically significant improvements after both yoga and swimming. Comparison of these improvements for different parameters statistically analyzed by unpaired t test or Mann Whitney U test depicted a statistically better improvement in FVC, FEF25-75% and MVV with swimming as compared to yogic exercises. CONCLUSIONS: The output of this study gives slight edge to swimming as a preferred modality of exercise though either yoga or swimming can be advocated as an exercise prescription as both the modalities cause significant improvement of respiratory health. However, other factors like ability of any exercise regime to keep continued motivation and interest of the trainees must be taken into account for exercise prescription.
ABSTRACT
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.
