EFFECT OF YOGIC PRACTICES ON BODY MASS INDEX AND STRESS AMONG MIDDLE AGED WOMEN SUFFERING FROM

VARICOSE VEINS

 

*K. Srividhya, **Dr. Radha Bhai, *Full –Time Ph.D., Scholar, Faculty of Yoga Sciences and Therapy, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research (Deemed to be university), No.12, Vembuliamman Koil Street, West K.K.Nagar, Chennai-78, Tamil Nadu, India. E- Mail ID: shreekha1226@gmail.com. ** Department of OBG, Meenakshi Medical College Hospital & Research Institute, Enathur, Kanchipuram.

 

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the random group experimental study was to find out the effect of yogic practices on Body Mass Index (BMI) and Stress among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins. For this purpose of study, 30 middle aged women suffering from varicose veins were selected randomly by using random group sampling method from Chennai city and their age was ranged between 35 and 45 years. The selected subjects were divided into two groups i.e., experimental group I and control group II of 15 subjects each. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins on selected Physiological and Psychological variables such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and Stress due to yogic practices than the control group. Experimental group underwent yogic practices for 60 minutes, Six days a week for a total period of 12 weeks. Practices include Loosening the Joints, Asanas, breathing and relaxation techniques. Control group did not undergo any treatment but in active rest. Pre-test and post test was conducted on selected dependent variables, such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and Stress levels before and after the training. The collected data were analyzed with Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA). The level of significance was fixed at 0.05 level of confidence. The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference on Body Mass Index (BMI) (decreased) and Stress (reduced) due to 12 weeks of yogic practices among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins. The hypothesis was accepted at 0.05 level of confidence. Hence it is concluded that Yogic practices are beneficial for middle aged women suffering from varicose veins to maintain healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) and to overcome Stress.

 

Key words: Yogic Practices, Body Mass Index (BMI), and Stress.

 

INTRODUCTION

Varicose veins, also known as varicose or varicosities occur when your veins become enlarged, dilated, and overfilled with blood. Varicose veins typically appear swollen and raised, and have a bluish-purple or red colour. The condition is very common, especially in women. Around 25 percent of all adults have varicose veins. In most cases, varicose veins appear on the lower legs. They are often painful.

Varicose veins and spider veins are swollen, twisted veins that usually appear on the legs. Women are more likely to have varicose veins and spider veins. Pregnancy, older age, and obesity can increase your risk of varicose veins and spider veins.

Stages of varicose veins:

• Stage one – spider veins. These small, reddish-purple veins – visible on the legs, ankles, neck, face, and other areas – are not necessarily related to varicose veins, but they are caused by the same underlying chronic venous insufficiency. They are more common in women than in men.
• Stage two – enlarged, ropy varicose veins. These swollen veins are in many cases “stage one” of the disease, because as noted they are not necessarily preceded by spider veins. This is the stage at which people often first become aware that they have a vein disease. The swollen veins may be accompanied by itching, burning, or numbness along the veins themselves, and by tired, weak, or achy legs. This is the best stage at which to treat them.
• Stage three – oedema (swelling), but without skin changes. In this stage, swelling of the legs and ankles increases because chronic venous insufficiency has impaired the circulatory system’s ability to reabsorb fluid. Elevation of the limbs may help, but will not cure the disease or reduce the swelling much.
• Stage four – skin changes and discoloration. As the disease progresses, venous congestion and poor circulation can lead to changes in skin colour and texture. The skin on your legs can become reddish-brown or white in colour, and take on a more leathery texture that leaves it brittle and prone to injury.
• Stage five – skin changes with healed ulceration. In this stage, scratches or injuries to the toughened skin may heal with treatment, often leaving scars.
• Stage six – skin changes with active ulceration. In this final stage of CVI, injuries to the skin and leg ulcers refuse to heal even with treatment, and can leave your legs literally covered with bleeding, open sores.

Causes:

Varicose veins occur when veins aren’t functioning properly. Veins have one-way valves that prevent blood from flowing backward. When these valves fail, blood begins to collect in the veins rather than continuing toward your heart. The veins then enlarge. Varicose veins often affect the legs. The veins there are the farthest from your heart, and gravity makes it harder for the blood to flow upward.

Some potential causes for varicose veins include:

• Pregnancy
• Menopause
• Age Over 50
• Standing for long periods of time
• Obesity
• Family history of varicose veins

 

Signs and symptoms:

The primary symptoms of varicose veins are highly visible, misshapen veins, usually on your legs. You may also have pain, swelling, heaviness, and achiness over or around the enlarged veins.

• Veins that are dark purple or blue in colour
• Veins that appear twisted and bulging; they are often like cords on your legs

• An achy or heavy feeling in your legs
• Burning, throbbing, muscle cramping and swelling in your lower legs
• Worsened pain after sitting or standing for a long time
• Itching around one or more of your veins
• Skin discoloration around a varicose vein

Spider veins are similar to varicose veins, but they're smaller. Spider veins are found closer to the skin's surface and are often red or blue.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective of the study was to find out whether there would be any significant difference on selected body mass index (BMI) and stress among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of yogic practices on body mass index (BMI) and stress among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins.

HYPOTHESIS

It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences due to yogic practices on the selected body mass index (BMI) and stress among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins than the control group.

 

DELIMITATIONS

• The study was confined to middle aged women suffering from varicose veins only.
• The age of the subjects was ranging from 35 to 45 years only.
• The subjects were selected from Chennai only.
• The independent variable was yogic practices only.
• The study was confined to dependent variables such as body mass index (BMI) and stress only.

 

 

LIMITATIONS

• The Factors like Socio-Economical status were not taken into consideration.
• The climatic conditions were not considered.
• Factors like Life style habits were not taken into consideration.
• Subjects’ day to day activities were not taken into account.
• Diet and Medication followed by subjects was not controlled.

 

REVIEWS ON RELATED LITERATURE

SiddappaNaragattiet.al.,(2019) found that a 39 years old married Hindu female patient working as house wife came with the following problems such as pain in both the legs due to varicosity of veins, stress, hyperacidity, weakness and decreased concentration in the last 2-3 months. While examine they found her B.P. is 100/70mm/Hg and weight 65.5kg. The expert gave yoga therapy session of one hour for 6 days per week for 45 days followed by proper diet. Regular yogic practices with proper medical counseling and guidance helped patient to regain physical and mental health. In this case patient experienced the satisfaction within one and half month of regular practice & her investigation reports supported the result. Radiologist acknowledged that the varicosity of affected veins had reduced significantly. Inverted Asanas contribute a lot to unloading the veins of lower extremities and pelvis. Combinations of upside-down poses and dynamic movements of the feet(rotation, flexion, extension in the ankle joints), performance of Uddiyana Bandha in inverted Asanas – all these are good for venous and lymphatic system of the legs. Venous system of the pelvis benefits from twisting variations of inverted Asanas, such as Sarvangasana and others. In this case patient feel the changes that yoga reduces the varicosity of vein and stress, same in naturopathy treatment improves the circulation of blood and reduce the swelling of veins and diet followed by her helped in preventing blood clots and acts like a natural blood thinner.

Deepak Kumar Semwal et.al., (2017)The present study was conducted to determine the effect of yoga practice on 64 participants (age 53.6 ± 13.1 years) (experimental group) whereas the results were compared with 26 healthy volunteers (control group). We examined the effects of yoga on physiological parameters in a 1-month pilot study. Most of the participants were learner and practiced yoga for 1 h daily in the morning for 1 month. BMI and BP (systolic and diastolic) were studied before and after 1 month of yoga practice. Yoga practice causes decreased BMI (26.4 ± 2.5-25.22 ± 2.4), systolic BP (136.9 ± 22.18 mmHg to 133 ± 21.38 mmHg), and diastolic BP (84.7 ± 6.5 mmHg to 82.34 ± 7.6 mmHg). On the other hand, no significant changes were observed in BMI and BP of control group. This study concludes that yoga practice has potential to control BMI and BP without taking any medication.

METHODOLOGY

To facilitate random group Experimental design study, 80 came forward, 50 were screened and 30 subjects were selected at random using random sampling method. Subjects are divided into two groups with each group consisting of 15 each. Among this one would be controlling group and no practice was given. The experimental group underwent yogic practices such as loosening exercise 10 mins, Suryanamaskar 3 rounds, Asanas 20 minutes which include Tadasana, Uttanasana, Navasana, Viparita karani, Sarvangasana, Matsyasana, Pawanamuktasana, Padahastasana and Pranayama for 12 min., Meditation, Deep Relaxation Technique (DRT), and finally Uddiyana bhandha, Madhyama nauli. Here initial and final test would be taken on all the two groups. And comparative analysis is made by statistical methods. The difference between initial and final scores on physiological and Psychological variables would be considered as the effect of yoga on subjects. The mean difference would be tested significance using Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) among the groups. The training period would be 12 weeks – six days a week except Sundays for 60 minutes. Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) was used to find out the significant differences between experimental group and the control group. The test of significance was fixed at 0.05 level of confidence.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

• The data pertaining to the variable collected from the two groups before and after the training period were statistically analyzed by using Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) to determine the significant difference and the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of confidence.
• These are shown in the Tables below.

 

TABLE I

COMPUTATION OF ANALYSIS OF CO-VARIANCE OF TRAINING GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP ON BMI (SCORE)

 

Test	Group-A Yogic Practices	Group-B Control Group	Source of Variation	Degrees of Freedom	Sum of Squares	Mean Sum of Squares	F-Ratio
Pre	25.65	25.41	Between	1	0.43	0.43	0.32
			With in	28	37.57	1.34
Post	23.63	25.45	Between	1	24.66	24.66	26.17*
			With in	28	26.39	0.94
Adjusted Post	23.61	25.47	Between	1	25.77	25.77	28.17*
			With in	27	24.70	0.91

** Significant at 0.05 level of BMI. (Table F ratio at 0.05 level of bmi for 1 and 28 (df) = 4.2, 1 and 27 (df) = 4.21)

The obtained F value on pre test scores 0.32 was lesser than the required F value of 4.2 to be significant at 0.05 level. This proved that there was no significant difference between the groups a pretest and posttest and the randomization at the pretest was equal. The post test scores analysis proved that there was significant difference between the groups, as obtained F value 26.17 was greater than the required F value of 4.20. This proved that the differences between the post-test means of the subjects were significant. Taking into consideration the pre and post-test scores among the groups, adjusted mean scores were calculated and subjected to statistical treatment. The obtained F value 28.17 was greater than the required F value of 4.21. This proved that there was a significant difference among the means due to 12 weeks of yogic practices on Body Mass Index (BMI) in line with the study conducted by Deepak Kumar Semwal et.al., (2017).

The ordered adjusted means on Body Mass Index (BMI) was presented through bar diagram for better understanding of the results of this study in Figure - 1.

 

Figure – 1

BAR DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ADJUSTED POST TEST MEANS OF EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS ON BMI (SCORE)

* Significant at 0.05 level of BMI. (Table F ratio at 0.05 level of bmi for 1 and 28 (df) = 4.2, 1 and 27 (df) = 4.21)

 

TABLE II

COMPUTATION OF ANALYSIS OF CO-VARIANCE OF TRAINING GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP ON STRESS (SCORE)

Test	Group-A Yogic Practices	Group-B Control Group	Source of Variation	Degrees of Freedom	Sum of Squares	Mean Sum of Squares	F-Ratio
Pre	41.27	40.80	Between	1	40.80	40.80	0.64
			With in	28	1773.33	63.33
Post	28.73	43.27	Between	1	1584.13	1584.13	41.00*
			With in	28	1081.87	38.64
Adjusted Post	28.58	43.42	Between	1	1652.02	1652.02	162.75*
			With in	27	274.07	10.15

* Significant at 0.05 level of STRESS. (Table F ratio at 0.05 level of stress for 1 and 28 (df) = 4.2, 1 and 27 (df) = 4.21)

The obtained F value on pre test scores 0.64 was lesser than the required F value of 4.2 to be significant at 0.05 level. This proved that there was no significant difference between the groups a pretest and posttest and the randomization at the pretest was equal. The post test scores analysis proved that there was significant difference between the groups, as obtained F value 41.00 was greater than the required F value of 4.20. This proved that the differences between the post-test means of the subjects were significant. Taking into consideration the pre and post-test scores among the groups, adjusted mean scores were calculated and subjected to statistical treatment. The obtained F value 162.75 was greater than the required F value of 4.21. This proved that there was a significant difference among the means due to 12 weeks of yogic practices on Stress in line with the study conducted by Siddappa Naragattiet.al., (2019)

 

Figure – II

BAR DIAGRAM SHOWING THE ADJUSTED POST TEST MEANS OF EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS ON STRESS (SCORES IN MARKS)

* Significant at 0.05 level of STRESS. (Table F ratio at 0.05 level of STRESS for 1 and 28 (df) = 4.2, 1 and 27 (df) = 4.21)

 

The results of the study showed that Stress reduced significantly due to Yogic practices for Group-I than Group II. Hence the hypothesis was accepted at 0.05 level of confidence.

The above findings were also substantiated by the observations made by experts such as Deepakumar Semwal et.al., (2017) and SiddappaNaragattiet.al., (2019)

 

DISCUSSION ON HYPOTHESIS

It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences on selected Physiological variable such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and Psychological variable such as Stress due to yogic practices among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins than the control group. The results proved that there were significant differences on Body Mass Index (BMI) (Decreased) and Stress (Reduced) due to yogic practices than the control group among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins.

 

CONCLUSIONS

It was concluded that yogic practices decreased Body Mass Index (BMI) and reduced Stress significantly among middle aged women suffering from varicose veins. Hence, yogic practices are beneficial for middle aged women suffering from varicose veins to maintain healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) and to overcome stress.

 

REFERENCES:

SiddappaNaragatti et.al., (2019) Case study on patient with varicose veins, International Journal of Current Advanced Research 8(10(B)):20198-20200 DOI: 10.24327/ijcar.2019.20200.3938

Chauhan A, Semwal DK, Mishra SP, Semwal RB. Yoga Practice Improves the Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure: A Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Yoga. 2017 May-Aug;10(2):103-106. DOI: 10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_46_16