Yoga as a Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to compare the effectiveness of yoga, pharmacological treatment, dietary interventions, and moderate-intensity walking for IBS.
Results Summary
The study found that moderate-intensity walking was equally effective as dietary interventions and yoga in improving IBS symptoms, with benefits seen in both physical and mental health outcomes.
Population
Patients with IBS
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
yoga | neutral | IBS | - | - | is effective and safe | #1 |
yoga | increase | - | - | - | more effective | #2 |
pharmacological treatment | decrease | - | - | - | less effective | #3 |
yoga | no change | - | - | - | equally effective | #4 |
dietary interventions | no change | - | - | - | equally effective | #5 |
moderate-intensity walking | no change | - | - | - | equally effective | #6 |
yoga | decrease | IBS symptom severity | - | - | Improvements were seen | #7 |
yoga | increase | gastric motility | - | - | Improvements were seen | #8 |
yoga | decrease | autonomic and somatic symptom scores | - | - | Improvements were seen | #9 |
yoga | increase | physical functioning | - | - | Improvements were seen | #10 |
yoga | decrease | depression | - | - | Improvements were seen | #11 |
yoga | decrease | anxiety | - | - | Improvements were seen | #12 |
yoga | decrease | gastrointestinal-specific anxiety | - | - | Improvements were seen | #13 |
yoga | increase | quality of life | - | - | Improvements were seen | #14 |
yoga | increase | IBS-related physical and mental health outcomes | patients with IBS | - | beneficial | #15 |
The aim of this state-of-the-art narrative review is to evaluate the current evidence about the effectiveness of yoga as therapy for IBS and explore its potential mechanisms of action. The current literature suggests yoga is effective and safe and may target multiple mechanisms involved in treatment of IBS. Evidence from randomized controlled trials identified yoga as more effective compared to pharmacological treatment and equally effective as dietary interventions or moderate-intensity walking. Improvements were seen in both physical health (IBS symptom severity, gastric motility, autonomic and somatic symptom scores, and physical functioning) and mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal-specific anxiety, and quality of life). Given favorable changes in IBS-related physical and mental health outcomes, preliminary data supports yoga as beneficial in this population. However, the relatively low-quality evidence resulting from heterogeneity of study designs, interventions, and outcome measures limit our ability to make specific recommendations about the use of yoga as therapy for patients with IBS.