Introduction: Chronic hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes, effects the central nervous system by altering the concentrations of brain metabolites like N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and myoinositol (mI), which are indicators of neuronal integrity and glial cell damage respectively. Dorsolateral frontal lobe is associated with aspects of cognition especially right frontal lobe is involved in episodic memory retrieval, ninety percent of the diabetic cases are type 2 in nature globally and yoga is very effective in stabilizing the brain metabolites by bringing the blood glucose levels to near or within the physiological range in type 2 diabetes.
Aim and objectives: The aim of the study was to observe the effects of yogasana and pranayama on glycosilated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and right dorsolateral frontal cortical NAA and mI concentration in type 2 diabetic subjects.
Materials and methods: It's a case control study. Sixty eight type 2 diabetic subjects of both the sex, aged between 35-65 years are included in the study, subjects are divided in to test and control group 34 each. Test group subjects did the yogasana and pranayama for a period of 6 months, 6 days in a week, 45-60 minutes daily under the supervision of a qualified yoga teacher. Control group subjects are not on any specific exercise regimen. Both the group subjects are taking oral hypoglycaemic agents. HbA1c levels are measured using the Bio-Rad D-10™ haemoglobin A1c program and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is used in assessing the metabolite concentrations.
Statistical analysis: Analysis of data was done by using unpaired t-test. P-value for HbA1c level is <0.001, which is highly significant statistically. P-value for NAA was < 0.02 and for myoinositol was < 0.01, which are statistically significant.
Results: HbA1c levels in control and test group subjects are 7.7 ± 1.84 and 6.02 ± 0.46 respectively. NAA concentrations in the right dorsolateral frontal lobe of control and test group are 1.44 ± 0.15 and 1.54 ± 0.19 respectively. The mI concentrations in the right dorsolateral frontal lobe of control and test group are 0.61 ± 0.22 and 0.47 ± 0.24 respectively.
Conclusion: Yogasana and pranayama minimized the neuronal and glial cellular damage in test group, which is evident by minimal changes in right dorsolateral frontal lobe NAA and mI levels in type 2 diabetic subjects.
Keywords: Frontal lobe; Glycosilated haemoglobin; Yogasana and pranayama.