The impact of yoga upon female patients suffering from hypothyroidism

Abstract

Objective: To study the effect of yoga on the quality of life of female hypothyroid patients.

Design: The WHO Quality of Life Scale(22) was used to assess the quality of life of 20 female hypothyroid patients. Subjects attended one hour yoga sessions daily for a period of one month. A pretest-post-test research design was used for data analysis.

Results: Patients' quality of life scores following the yoga program were greater than scores obtained prior to undertaking yoga (p < 0.01). Patients also reported significant improvement in their perception of the overall quality of life and of their health post yoga intervention.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that yoga is valuable in helping the hypothyroid patients to manage their disease-related symptoms. Yoga may be considered as supportive or complementary therapy in conjunction with medical therapy for the treatment of hypothyroid disorder.