|
 
 |
| CASE REPORT |
|
| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 1 | Page : 13-16 |
|
Yoga and naturopathy treatment for insomnia: A case report
Anita Verma1, Sanjay Shete1, Ritu Prasad2, Akshata Badave1, Satish Pathak1
1 Department of Scientific Research, Kaivalyadhama, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2 Health Care Centre, Naturopathy Section, Kaivalyadhama, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| Date of Submission | 07-Oct-2021 |
| Date of Decision | 10-Dec-2021 |
| Date of Acceptance | 19-Dec-2021 |
| Date of Web Publication | 03-Mar-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Mr. Sanjay Shete
Department of Scientific Research, Kaivalyadhama, Swami Kuvalayananda Marg, Lonavla, Pune - 410 403, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/jopcs.jopcs_22_21
Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder wherein the patient experiences difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, along with nonrefreshing sleep. It adversely affects a person's professional life, physical and mental health as well as overall quality of life. A 42-year-old female, self-employed, presented with severe anxiety, panic attacks, and insomnia at Kaivalyadhama Health Care Centre, Lonavla. This case study was undertaken to explore the cumulative effect of yoga and naturopathy on anxiety disorders and insomnia. The patient was assessed on day 1 and after completion of 30 days therapy for Sleep Quality, Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Musculoskeletal Pain by using standard questionnaires. The patient underwent yoga and naturopathy treatment for 1 month at Kaivalyadhama Health Care Centre. The results of present case study revealed significant reduction in depression, anxiety, stress, and musculoskeletal pain after 30 days of yoga and naturopathy intervention. The patient also showed improvement in sleep quality and reduction in musculoskeletal pain which was sustained even after 2 months. Thus, an integrative therapy of yoga and naturopathy can be implemented in patients suffering from anxiety disorders and insomnia.
Keywords: Insomnia, naturopathy, yoga
How to cite this article:
Verma A, Shete S, Prasad R, Badave A, Pathak S. Yoga and naturopathy treatment for insomnia: A case report. J Prim Care Spec 2022;3:13-6 |
| Introduction | |  |
In the conflict-driven modern lifestyle, most of the individuals are under tremendous and constant stress due to various reasons such as professional life, societal pressures, and emotional issues. If these issues remain unresolved for a longer duration, they might give rise to psychosomatic disorders such as insomnia, hypertension, acidity, gastric ulcers, metabolic disorders, anxiety and panic attacks. Insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder wherein the patient experiences difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, along with nonrefreshing sleep. Insomnia also leads to sleepiness, memory impairment, loss of productivity, absenteeism, frequent accidents, and increased medical costs. Insomnia often remains undiagnosed and the patients do not appear to be receiving complete treatment. Inadequate treatment of insomnia often leads to development of psychosomatic disorders and increased drug abuse.[1] It adversely affects a person's professional life, physical and mental health as well as overall quality of life. The most serious impact of insomnia is increased risk of depression.[2] Modern medicine is effective in managing these conditions and provide temporary relief, but it also leads to adverse side effects over a long period of time.
Nevertheless, alternative therapies such as yoga, naturopathy, and Ayurveda have been found to be effective in the treatment of various psychosomatic disorders.[3],[4] Yoga practices i.e., Asanas, pranayama, meditation, and shuddhi kriya are based on the principle that the body affects the mind and vice-versa. Although there have been research studies in the past exploring the effect of yoga on psychophysiological disorders, there is a dearth of research involving integrated therapy approach. Thus, present case study was undertaken to explore the cumulative effect of yoga and naturopathy in a female patient suffering from anxiety disorders and insomnia.
| Case report | | |
A 42-year-old female, self-employed, presented with severe anxiety, panic attacks, and insomnia at Kaivalyadhama Health Care Centre, Lonavla. She was an established case of insomnia and was taking Zolfresh 10 mg since past 3 years. Upon admission, her weight was 79.7 kg and had severe back and leg pain along with numbness, low appetite, crying spells, lack of interest, and exertional dyspnoea, probably due to overweight. The back pain was probably due to long hours of sitting, lack of rest and stress. She was unable to swallow solid food due to anxiety and panic attacks. She had difficulty falling asleep without medication, and was unable to sleep after getting up at night since last 5 years. The details of study design have been presented in [Figure 1].
Diagnostic assessment
The patient was assessed on day 1 and after completion of 30 days therapy for following variables by using standard questionnaires:
Pittsburgh sleep quality index
Pittsburgh sleep quality index assessed sleep quality and disturbances over 1-month time interval.
Depression, anxiety and stress scale-21
The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items designed to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress.
Orebro musculoskeletal pain questionnaire
The Orebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire, predicts long-term disability and work absenteeism in working adults. The total minimum score is 4 and the maximum is 210. Lower scores are desirable, as greater scores indicate increased disability.
Therapeutic intervention
Since the patient was suffering from multiple psycho-physiological health complaints, an integrated therapy was implemented. The details of therapy have been presented in [Table 1].
| Results | | |
The results of present case study revealed significant reduction in depression, anxiety, stress, and musculoskeletal pain after 30 days of yoga and naturopathy intervention. The patient also showed improvement in sleep quality and reduction in musculoskeletal pain which was sustained even after 2 months [Table 2]. Further, there was significant reduction in depression, anxiety and stress even after 2 months. Moreover, the sleep medication was tapered to alternate days and subsequently stopped.
| Discussion | | |
The results of present case report indicate substantial reduction in stress, anxiety and depression after integrated therapy of yoga and naturopathy. The results also showed improvement in sleep quality and reduction in musculoskeletal pain. Present case report suggests that yoga and naturopathy is useful for patients with anxiety-induced insomnia. Earlier studies have shown effectiveness of yoga in various psychological disorders like anxiety, stress, depression and panic attacks.[5],[6] Insomnia is a heterogeneous complaint reflecting reduced quality, duration, or efficiency of sleep. The severity of insomnia is judged along several dimensions including frequency, intensity, and duration of sleep difficulties, as well as their impact on daytime functioning, mood, and quality of life.[7] Although this can be improved by yoga and naturopathy treatment, however, these alternative treatment methods are not well known by modern health care providers and are under-utilized.
The patient showed significant improvement which might be due to the fact that yoga practices lead to progressive muscle relaxation along with calming the mind.[8] It is evident from earlier studies that yoga asanas and guided relaxation techniques influence autonomic nervous system wherein parasympathetic activity is increased and sympathetic activity is decreased.[9],[10] This leads to relaxation of mind and body which in turn improves physical and mental health of an individual. Yoga therapy requires regular practice over a period of several weeks under professional guidance mainly in the initial stages. Further, several earlier studies demonstrated that Naturopathy treatment is effective in patients suffering from insomnia and related disorders.[11],[12],[13],[14],[15]
Although present study showed promising results, there are certain limitations to the study. The case study was conducted only on one patient for a limited period and assessment was restricted to few parameters only. In fact, there is a need to observe sleep pattern in order to study the sleep quality of the patient using modern techniques. Further, randomized controlled trials with a larger sample size are warranted to substantiate the findings of this case study.
| Conclusion | | |
Yoga and naturopathy treatment is effective in reducing depression, stress, anxiety, and musculoskeletal pain. The treatment is also effective in improving sleep quality. Thus, an integrative therapy of yoga and naturopathy can be implemented in patients suffering from anxiety disorders and insomnia.
Informed consent
Signed informed consent was obtained from the patient before conducting this case study.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | | |
| 1. | Drake CL, Roehrs T, Roth T. Insomnia causes, consequences, and therapeutics: An overview. Depress Anxiety 2003;18:163-76.  |
| 2. | Roth T, Roehrs T. Insomnia: Epidemiology, characteristics, and consequences. Clin Cornerstone 2003;5:5-15. |
| 3. | Singh AN. Role of yoga therapies in psychosomatic disorders. Int Congr Ser 2006;1287:91-6. |
| 4. | Singh RH. The psychosomatic disorders and their management in ayurveda. Anc Sci Life 1981;1:41-8. |
| 5. | Hofmann SG, Sawyer AT, Witt AA, Oh D. The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. J Consult Clin Psychol 2010;78:169-83. |
| 6. | Hofmann SG, Andreoli G, Carpenter JK, Curtiss J. Effect of hatha yoga on anxiety: A meta-analysis. J Evid Based Med 2016;9:116-24. |
| 7. | Roth T. Insomnia: Definition, prevalence, etiology, and consequences. J Clin Sleep Med 2007;3:S7-10. |
| 8. | Desikachar K, Bragdon L, Bossart C. The yoga of healing: Exploring yoga's holistic model for health and well-being. Int J Yoga Ther 2005;15:17-39. |
| 9. | Kanojia S, Sharma VK, Gandhi A, Kapoor R, Kukreja A, Subramanian SK. Effect of yoga on autonomic functions and psychological status during both phases of menstrual cycle in young healthy females. J Clin Diagn Res 2013;7:2133-9. |
| 10. | Vempati RP, Telles S. Yoga-based guided relaxation reduces sympathetic activity judged from baseline levels. Psychol Rep 2002;90:487-94. |
| 11. | Cooley K, Szczurko O, Perri D, Mills EJ, Bernhardt B, Zhou Q, et al. Naturopathic care for anxiety: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One 2009;4:e6628. |
| 12. | Herman PM, Szczurko O, Cooley K, Mills EJ. Cost-effectiveness of naturopathic care for chronic low back pain. Altern Ther Health Med 2008;14:32-9. |
| 13. | Krisanaprakornkit T, Krisanaprakornkit W, Piyavhatkul N, Laopaiboon M. Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006;(1):CD004998. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004998.pub2. PMID: 16437509. |
| 14. | Szczurko O, Cooley K, Busse JW, Seely D, Bernhardt B, Guyatt GH, et al. Naturopathic care for chronic low back pain: A randomized trial. PLoS One 2007;2:e919. |
| 15. | Brown RP, Gerbarg PL. Herbs and nutrients in the treatment of depression, anxiety, insomnia, migraine, and obesity. J Psychiatr Pract 2001;7:75-91. |
[Figure 1]
[Table 1], [Table 2]
|
Search Pubmed for