Scientists at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City have discovered that yoga therapy is showing positive results in relieving AF patients’ symptoms.

This small study, led by Dr. Dhanunjaya Lakireddy, is studying the effects of yoga on AF patients’ heart rates and cardiac autonomic parameters. This phase 2 study is a follow-up to an earlier study of patients with paroxysmal AF.

“We’re exploring the effect of yoga on neurocardiogenic syncope and inappropriate sinus tachycardia, where nonphysiologic fluctuation of the cardiac autonomics plays a big role,” Lakkireddy said to Heartwire after he gave a presentation at the Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium 2012.

“Yoga doesn’t really cure atrial fibrillation, but it definitely improves the symptoms and the arrhythmia burden,” he said.

Lakkireddy and his team conducted a phase 1 study that consisted of monitoring 49 patients who had paroxysmal AF. The study found that the AF episodes had been reduced in as much as 22 percent of patients experiencing no new AF episodes while they were practicing BKS lyengar yoga. According to an article posted on Medscape.com, “Anxiety/depression scores, quality-of-life scores, resting heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure also showed some improvement in the patients.”

From there, researchers decided to look for a correlation between the cardiovascular benefits seen in the study and patients experiencing a reduction in stress. What they found was that there was no significant trend that linked stress/anxiety levels and AF episodes. The team is hoping that in conducting a larger trial, they may be able to find results that are more significantly related.

If the study can show significant reductions in AF episodes, patients can find themselves less dependent on prescription medications like Multaq to treat their AF. Multaq has been proven to cause liver failure in some patients and a worsening of the heart condition for others. Some patients have even died while taking Multaq, causing one clinical trial, the PALLAS study, to be halted altogether.

If you or a loved one have taken Multaq and developed liver failure or a worsening heart condition, contact the attorneys at Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting Multaq lawsuits and may be able to help you recover money for your injuries.