Effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga on Cardiac Autonomic Control and Anxiety/Depression Levels in Patients Affected by Anxiety-Depression Disorders

Several studies have demonstrated that adjuvant therapies as exercise and breathing training are effective in improving cardiac autonomic control (CAC) in patients with affective spectrum disorders. However, the effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) on autonomic function in this population is unknown. To test the hypothesis that SKY training improves CAC, cardiorespiratory coupling and adaptive response of sympatho-vagal balance to orthostatic changes were evaluated in patients with anxiety and/or depression disorders.

The authors will enroll patients with a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression disorders (DSM-IV) and they will divide them in two groups: 1) conventional therapy (Control) and 2) conventional therapy associated with SKY (Treatment) for 15 days. Anxiety and depression levels will be determined using quantitative questionnaires. For the assessment of CAC and cardiorespiratory coupling, cardiorespiratory traces will be analyzed using monovariate and bivariate autoregressive spectral analysis, respectively.