Role of Yoga in the Control of Epilepsy

Epilepsy has a lot of physical and psychosocial consequences in patents. Since it is widely accepted that stress can trigger seizures for people with epilepsy. It is proposed that as yoga-based interventions support the return towards optimal balance in the nervous system, function improves, allostatic load is reduced leading to induce relaxation and stress reduction and then can help to control of epilepsy. Through a comprehensive search for studies that investigated the efficacy of yoga as a treatment for epilepsy, three randomized controlled studies were found. In a study that conducted by Panjwani and et al. 32 patients with idiopathic epilepsy were randomly divided into three groups. Group I (n = 10) practiced Sahaja yoga for 6 months,Group II(n = 10) practiced exercises mimicking Sahaj yoga for 6 months and Group III (n = 12) served as the control group. Group I subjects reported a 62% decrease in seizure frequency at 3 months and a further decrease of 86% at 6 months of intervention. In the study by Deepak et al. 11 adults suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy were given yoga practice for 20 minutes a day for one year while another nine adults acted as waiting-list controls. All patients were on antiepileptic drugs. They showed a significant reduction in seizure frequency and duration.In study by Sathyaprabha and et al. determined the Effects of yoga on patients with refractory epilepsy. Yoga group (n = 18) received training in yoga, and the exercise group (n = 16) practiced simple routine exercises. Autonomic function tests data were compared with those of healthy volunteers (n = 142) after 10 weeks of daily sessions. The yoga group showed significant improvement in parasympathetic parameters and a decrease in seizure frequency scores. In research by Lundgren and et al. 18 Participants were randomized into one of two groups: yoga or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The treatment protocols consisted of 12 hours of professional therapy distributed in two individual sessions, two group sessions during a 5-week period, and booster sessions at 6 and 12 months post treatment. Seizure index was continuously assessed during the 3-month baseline and 12-month follow-up. The results of this study suggest that complementary treatments, such as ACT and yoga, decrease seizure index and increase quality of life. All three studies reported significant decreases in seizure frequency in groups treated with yoga. Thus yoga, as a complementary therapy, has a remarkable beneficial effect in control of seizures in epileptic patients.

Keywords:

Epilepsy , Seizure frequency , Yoga