Yoga, immunity and COVID-19: A scoping review

Abstract

Yoga is recognized and practiced for different levels of prevention since antiquity. The current scoping review aimed to identify and document the evidence reporting the effect of yoga interventions on immunity against COVID-19 infection. Three databases--PubMed, Cochrane, and Google Scholar, were searched to identify eligible studies. Articles published in English after 2010 and assessing the impact of any form of yoga (such as yogasanas, meditations, or pranayamas) on immunological markers were included in the review. The studies without information of the intervention on immunity markers, and experience sharing reviews were excluded. The search yielded 45 eligible articles with majority of the studies being published from the USA and India. Most of the studies were randomized controlled trials, enrolling the adult population with a specific focus on diseases like HIV, cancer, and heart failure. It was observed that a variety of yoga interventions along with meditation and pranayama, in different combinations were used by the authors. However, all these studies unanimously reported improvement in immunological profile (indicated by improved biochemical markers) of an individual (irrespective of disease state and type) with yoga. Moreover, the beneficial effects of these traditional Indian interventions were also found to have a positive impact on overall physical and physiological wellbeing and quality of life. Findings from the existing literature indicate that the practice of yoga has the potential to strengthen cell-mediated immunity and hence could be used as an effective preventive measure against COVID-19 where immunity plays a critical role.

Keywords: COVID-19; immunity; meditation; pranayama; review; yoga.

Figure 1

PRISMA chart

Figure 2

Summary of findings