Yoga and Cardiovascular Health Trial (YACHT): a UK-based randomised mechanistic study of a yoga intervention plus usual care versus usual care alone following an acute coronary event

Tillin, T. et al. (2019) Yoga and Cardiovascular Health Trial (YACHT): a UK-based randomised mechanistic study of a yoga intervention plus usual care versus usual care alone following an acute coronary event. BMJ Open, 9(11), e030119. (doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030119) (PMID:31685500) (PMCID:PMC6858127)

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effects of yoga practice on subclinical cardiovascular measures, risk factors and neuro-endocrine pathways in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) following acute coronary events. Design: 3-month, two-arm (yoga +usual care vs usual care alone) parallel randomised mechanistic study. Setting: One general hospital and two primary care CR centres in London. Assessments were conducted at Imperial College London. Participants: 80 participants, aged 35–80 years (68% men, 60% South Asian) referred to CR programmes 2012–2014. Intervention: A certified yoga teacher conducted yoga classes which included exercises in stretching, breathing, healing imagery and deep relaxation. It was pre-specified that at least 18 yoga classes were attended for inclusion in analysis. Participants and partners in both groups were invited to attend weekly a 6- to 12-week local standard UK National Health Service CR programme. Main outcome measures: (i) Estimated left ventricular filling pressure (E/e′), (ii) distance walked, fatigue and breathlessness in a 6 min walk test, (iii) blood pressure, heart rate and estimated peak VO2 following a 3 min step-test. Effects on the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis, autonomic function, body fat, blood lipids and glucose, stress and general health were also explored. Results: 25 participants in the yoga + usual care group and 35 participants in the usual care group completed the study. Following the 3-month intervention period, E/e′ was not improved by yoga (E/e′: between-group difference: yoga minus usual care:−0.40 (−1.38, 0.58). Exercise testing and secondary outcomes also showed no benefits of yoga. Conclusions: In this small UK-based randomised mechanistic study, with 60 completing participants (of whom 25 were in the yoga + usual care group), we found no discernible improvement associated with the addition of a structured 3-month yoga intervention to usual CR care in key cardiovascular and neuroendocrine measures shown to be responsive to yoga in previous mechanistic studies. Trial registration number: NCT01597960; Pre-results.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding The study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MR/J000175/1).
• Keywords: Cardiovascular medicine, 1506, 1683, yoga, cardiac rehabilitation, exercise, blood pressure, heart rate
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Welsh, Professor Paul and Sattar, Professor Naveed
• Authors: Tillin, T., Tuson, C., Sowa, B., Chattopadhyay, K., Sattar, N., Welsh, P., Roberts, I., Ebrahim, S., Kinra, S., Hughes, A., and Chaturvedi, N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
• Journal Name: BMJ Open
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2044-6055
• ISSN (Online): 2044-6055
• Published Online: 03 November 2019
• Copyright Holders: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019
• First Published: First published in BMJ Open 9:e030119
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence