Yoga improves blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes

Thind H, Lantini R, Balletto BL, et al. Les effets du yoga chez les adultes atteints de diabète de type 2: une revue systématique et méta-analyse. Prev Med. 2017;105:116-26.

Review question

In people who have type 2 diabetes, does yoga improve blood sugar?

Background

People with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for long-term complications. Often, in addition to taking medication, people need to follow special diets and engage in physical activity to help control their blood sugar. Yoga is thought to help people with diabetes control their blood sugar.

How the review was done

The researchers did a systematic review, searching for studies that were published up to Dec 2015.

They found 23 studies, including 2,473 people (average age 53 years; 57% were men).

The key features of the studies were:

• people were at least 18 years of age and had type 2 diabetes;
• people did yoga for a minimum of 12 hours over up to 26 weeks (type of yoga varied);
• yoga was compared with control groups that included usual care, exercise, and lifestyle education; and
• outcomes were measured at least 8 weeks after starting yoga.

What the researchers found

Compared with not doing yoga, yoga improved:

• control of blood sugar;
• cholesterol levels;
• blood pressure; and
• body mass index.

Compared with not doing yoga, yoga did not improve weight loss.

The studies were considered to be low to medium quality, which means that new studies might show different results.

Conclusion

In people with type 2 diabetes, yoga reduces blood sugar.

Yoga vs control in people with type 2 diabetes