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Yoga as a Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Digestive diseases and sciences
September 1, 2020
Adrijana D'Silva et al. (6 authors)
Journal ArticleReviewHuman Study
Study Details

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

Extracted Claims (15)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
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
Abstract

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.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
AdolescentAdultAgedFemaleFunctional StatusHumansIrritable Bowel SyndromeMaleMental HealthMiddle AgedQuality of LifeRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeYogaYoung Adult
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy75/10
Quality70/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations22
Citations/Year4.4
Relative Citation Ratio1.86
NIH Percentile72.3%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.75
Weight Score2.26
Normalized Score0.64
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