Can short term practice of shavasana modify autonomic status in early stage of bronchial asthma?

Changes in the caliber of airways in asthma reflect a parallel change in the heart rate. Cardiac vagal reactivity does indeed appear to be increased in asthma, as demonstrated by the cardiac response to various autonomic functions tests. In addition, emotional stress is also known to be one of the major contributing factors for asthma. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the autonomic function tests (AFT) in asthmatic patients. Additionally the effect of Shavasana (an asana wherein the body and mind are completely relaxed) on AFT in asthmatics was also explored. Thirty male, uncomplicated asthmatic patients with disease duration of 2-5years and the mean age of 28.73years were compared for AFT with thirty healthy male with mean age of 27.17years. The AFT was repeated in these patients following a brief exposure to training in shavasana twice a day for three weeks. The results were analyzed by students unpaired and paired't' test. There was no significant change in valsalva ratio and 30/15 ratio. However a statistically significant heart rate variation to deep breathing was observed in asthmatics compared to controls. However, the autonomic function tests didn't change significantly after shavasana. The results of the study suggest a hyper-responsive parasympathetic system in asthmatic patients. Shavasana training has not improved these values significantly, which suggests the absence of an impact of practice of shavasana on autonominc functions when practiced as a single asana for short duration.