Anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters in climacteric yoga practitioners

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters in climacteric yoga practitioners.

Methods

This study investigated 108 climacteric women. We recruited 28 women between 40 and 65 years old who started yoga practices in premenopause and had already practiced for at least 5 years. As controls, we selected 30 physical activity (PA) practitioners who had practiced for at least 5 years and 50 sedentary women in the same age range. We conduced anthropometric, biochemical and blood pressure measurements.

Results

The yoga group had significantly lower fasting blood glucose than the PA practitioners and sedentary women. Yoga practitioners also had lower weight, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage and waist-to-height ratio; higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; lower levels of triglycerides, insulin, Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, uric acid, apolipoprotein B and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; and lower frequency of metabolic syndrome, lipid accumulation product, visceral adiposity index and systolic blood pressure than the sedentary women.

Conclusion

Yoga practitioners had lower glucose serum concentrations than the PA practitioners and sedentary women. Overall, the yoga group also had better anthropometric, biochemical and clinical variables than the other groups. Although further investigation is required, yoga practice in premenopause seems to be beneficial for women when they reach menopause.

摘要

目的：本研究旨在评价更年期瑜伽练习者的人体测量、生化和临床参数。 方法：研究对象是108例更年期女性。其中28例年龄40至65岁, 绝经前开始练习瑜伽, 且已练习至少5年。对照组包括30例5年以上体育活动（PA）训练者和50例同龄久坐女性。我们进行了人体测量, 生化检测及血压测量。 结果：与PA训练者和久坐女性比较, 瑜伽组的空腹血糖明显减低。与久坐女性相比, 瑜伽练习者的体重、体重指数、腰围、体脂率和腰围身高比减低；高密度脂蛋白胆固醇水平升高；甘油三酯、胰岛素、胰岛素抵抗的稳态模型评估（HOMA-IR）、尿酸、载脂蛋白B和高敏C反应蛋白水平减低；代谢综合征发病率、脂质积累产物、内脏脂肪指数和收缩压均减低。 结论：瑜伽练习者的血糖低于PA训练者和久坐女性。瑜伽组的人体测量、生化和临床参数也优于其他组。虽然仍需进一步研究证实, 但绝经前练习瑜伽似乎对女性绝经后有益。

Keywords:

• Yoga
• climacteric
• menopause
• anthropometric parameters
• biochemical measures
• blood pressure

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) [Finance Code 001].