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Objective: Ayurveda and Yoga have emerged as beneficial adjuvant in management of diabetes. This pilot study was planned to understand the concepts and assess the effect of a combination of Ayurvedic panchakarma and Yoga. Design: Experimental pilot study with pre post design. Subjects: Twelve patients with type 2 diabetes in age between 40-70 years (mean 56 ± 9.08) with no cardiac, renal or retinal complications. Settings: Residential Holistic Health Centre of S-VYASA. Intervention: A validated Ayurveda protocol comprising of panchakarma followed by maintenance therapy with a specific module of Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy for Diabetes that included selected physical postures (asanas), pranayama, meditation, lifestyle change and yogic counseling for stress management. All subjects underwent a residential program for six weeks followed by therapy at home for 12 weeks. Results were analyzed using paired “t” test. Results: After 6 weeks, Fasting Blood Glucose reduced (p < 0.05) from 129.31 ± 58.11 to 103.54 ± 40.74 (19.93%), Post Prandial Blood Glucose from 191.69 ± 76.77 to 152.92 ± 62.06 (20.23%, p < 0.05), Total choles- terol from 209 ± 33.7 to 186.92 ± 23.36 (10.56%, p < 0.05), Triglycerides from 198.25 ± 94.78 to 151.25 ± 43.65 (23.71%, p < 0.05), HbA1creduced (p = 0.014) from 8.79 ± 2.12 to 8.07 ± 1.77 (8.19%) in 6th week and further to 7.63 ± 2.12 (13.19%, p = 0.001) after 12th week. Oral Hypoglycemic Agent (OHA) drug score reduced from 2.83 ± 0.93 to 1 ± 1.27 (64.66%, p < 0.001). Symptom score reduced from 2.83 ± 1.02 to 1.66 ± 0.65 (p < 0.001). At baseline guna questionnaire showed six subjects each with rajas and tamas dominance. On post assessments, two subjects shifted from tamas to rajas dominance. Conclusion: This first pilot study has indication of a potentially beneficial effect of combining traditionally recommended Ayurveda panchakarma with maintenance herbs and Yoga, in reducing blood glucose and lipids. Long term RCT is recommended.
Vaibhavi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.