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\n <\/figure>\nBetween April 30, 2023, and March 31, 2024, Bhargav and colleagues followed 59 patients with mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms from opioid use disorder at the Centre for Addiction Medicine, an inpatient treatment facility in India. The participants were all men aged 18 to 50 years, with an average age of 25.6 years.<\/p>\n
In addition to receiving treatment as usual, which included buprenorphine, a group of 30 patients were assigned to 10 guided 45-minute yoga sessions over a period of 14 days. A control group of 29 patients received the standard buprenorphine treatment only.<\/p>\n
Assessors blind to group allocation evaluated patients on days 1 and 15, measuring their withdrawal recovery with the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale. Patients who participated in the yoga sessions recovered faster than those in the control group (HR = 4.4; 95% CI, 2.4-8.07), and their median stabilization time was 5 days (95% CI, 4-6 days). The control group stabilized after a median 9 days (95% CI, 7-13 days). <\/p>\n
\u201cMediation analysis confirmed that increases in parasympathetic activity accounted for 23% of the treatment effect of yoga, suggesting this is a neurobiologically informed intervention addressing core regulatory processes beyond symptom management,\u201d Bhargav said.<\/p>\n
The yoga group also experienced improved autonomic regulation, seen through improved heart rate variability (P<\/i> < .001), as well as reduced anxiety measured with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (P<\/i> < .001), sleep latency (P<\/i>= .008) and pain rated by the Visual Analog Scale (P<\/i> = .004). <\/p>\n
\u201cYoga addresses a therapeutic gap that medications alone do not fill,\u201d Bhargav said. \u201cBy incorporating mindfulness in asanas, slowing breathing and relaxation techniques, yoga directly activates the parasympathetic nervous system and helps the body shift out of constant \u2018stress mode\u2019 into a state that supports healing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers noted several study limitations, including the short intervention duration and limited generalizability due to the single-center design and all-male sample. <\/p>\n
According to Bhargav, these limitations underscore the need for further research exploring the impact of yoga on opioid withdrawal in larger, diverse populations. He also highlighted the need to evaluate yoga\u2019s impact on withdrawal recovery in fentanyl-dependent populations, as the sample population largely consisted of tapentadol-dependent patients.<\/p>\n
Bhargav said that integrating yoga into inpatient and residential treatment programs is feasible. <\/p>\n
\u201cSessions can be conducted in yoga halls or at bedside to accommodate individual needs, making it adaptable to various clinical environments,\u201d he told Healio. \u201cThe potential economic benefits of shorter stabilization times (5 vs. 9 days) could make this attractive to healthcare systems and support a case for including yoga-based interventions under insurance coverage.\u201d <\/p>\n
For more information:<\/h2>\n
Hemant Bhargav<\/b>,<\/b> MD, PhD<\/b>,<\/b> can be reached at drbhargav.nimhans@gmail.com. <\/p>\n\n
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