Impact of Pranayama practices on Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Adults: A Scoping Review of Emerging Evidence from Randomised Controlled Trials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70066/jahm.v13i9.2346Keywords:
Pranayama, Hypertension, Blood Pressure, Randomized Controlled Trials, Scoping ReviewAbstract
Background: Hypertension (HTN) is a major worldwide health problem that is associated with cardiovascular morbidity. Pharmacological therapy is of benefit, but it is difficult to maintain blood pressure control in long term, owing to poor compliance, side effects and/or long-term requirement of therapy. Pranayama has been emerged as an adjunct in regulation of blood pressure. Objective: This study summarizes evidence of Randomised controlled trials (RCT’s) from major databases which access the impact of pranayama in HTN. Methodology: PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Central databases were systematically searched up to June 2025 since inception and only RCTs were included to generate synthesis based on highest level of clinical evidence. Data were summarized in terms of study characteristics, study participants, intervention protocol, research outcomes and significant research findings. Since interventions and outcomes were heterogeneous, synthesis of the evidence was performed descriptively. Result: After screening, 6 RCT’s evaluating the impact of pranayama on blood pressure able to pass inclusion criteria. Despite the limited number of RCTs, consistent evidence indicate that pranayama technique plays a significant role in lowering blood pressure, proves its clinical relevance and therapeutic benefits. Studies were heterogenous and showed sampling, application, period and demographical limitations. Novelty of this review is, as it uses large database RCT’s, offering a comprehensive overview of pragmatic and easily applicable pranayama practices as an adjuvant in HTN, at the same time identifying the research gap and guiding future direction. Conclusion: Based on the available RCT’s, it can be concluded that pranayama practices support its use as an adjuvant treatment in the management HTN. This review also addresses the gaps in scientific literature, providing a future direction for high quality, multi-centric studies with rigorous methodology. This ensures broader applicability and sustainability, thereby providing valuable guidance for clinicians and public to incorporate pranayama in HTN management
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