The Effects of Breathing Exercise Combined with Thai Yoga on Heart Rate Variability in Elderly Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) causes a high rate of cardiovascular mortality and is frequently accompanied by cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a commonly employed method to evaluate the functioning of cardiac autonomic control. Both breathing exercises and yoga improved cardiac autonomic function in healthy subjects. Hence, this study was designed to assess the effect of breathing exercises combined with Thai yoga (BETY) on cardiac autonomic function in elderly T2DM patients. This study was carried out on 40 female-diagnosed T2DM patients aged 60 to 80 years. They were divided into two groups: the Exercise Group (n=20) and the Control Group (n=20), none of which underwent BETY. The Exercise Group engaged in BETY for 1 hour, 5 days a week, for 3 consecutive months. Before and after 3 months of BETY, measurements of body composition, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar (FBS), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and HRV were taken. Body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure were significantly decreased after BETY (P<0.001). There was a significant decrease in FBS (P<0.01) and HbA1c (P<0.05). Moreover, compared to pre-intervention, the post-intervention values of SDNN, RMSSD, and HF increased significantly (P<0.01); whereas, LF, LF/HF ratio, and heart rate decreased significantly (P<0.01). In the Control Group, there were no significant differences between pre-and post-intervention. These findings indicate that the 3 months of BETY training improved body composition, blood pressure, and cardiac autonomic control in elderly T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]