The Effect of Yoga on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: A Meta-Analysis

Yoga has been increasingly popular yet has shown inconsistent benefits on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. We aimed to systematically analyze the effect of yoga on modifiable CVD risk factors. We systematically searched Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Scopus, and Web of Science from database inception in 1966 through June 2022 for studies evaluating the association between yoga and blood pressure, lipid profile, HbA1c and body mass index (BMI). Two investigators independently reviewed data. Conflicts were resolved through consensus. Random-effects meta-analyses were used. 64 RCTs including a total of 16,797 participants were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Yoga therapy improved both systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure (weight mean difference [WMD] (95% Confidence interval [CI]) of -4.56 [-6.37, -2.75] mm Hg, WMD [95% CI] - 3.39 [-5.01, -1.76] mm Hg respectively). There was also an improvement in BMI as well as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (WMD [95% CI] of -0.57 [-1.05, -0.10] kg/m², WMD [95% CI] of -0.14 [-0.24, -0.030] mmol/L respectively) . In addition, all parameters of the lipid profile, including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) showed a significant improvement with yoga therapy (WMD [95% CI] -7.59 [-12.23, -2.95] mg/dL for LDL-C). Yoga has a modest yet positive effect on blood pressure, BMI, lipid profile and HbA1c and, therefore, may play an ancillary role in primary prevention of CVD.