Yoga intervention on blood NO in female migraineurs

BACKGROUND: The current survey investigates the effect of 12 weeks yoga training on headache frequency, severity, duration and blood nitric oxide levels as well as headache impacts on female migraineurs’ lives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two female patients with migraine took part and were randomly divided into two groups. The control group (n = 14) received medication and the yoga group (n = 18) participated in 12 weeks yoga training in addition to receiving the same medication as that of the control group. Frequency and duration of headache were assessed by a questionnaire. Visual Analogue Scale was used to measure the severity of headache, and the metabolite of NO also was measured by Griess reaction. Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) was also used to assess the impact of headache on patients’ lives. Data were analyzed by t-test mean variance. RESULTS: After 3 months intervention, in the yoga group, there was a significant reduction in the impact of headache on patients’ lives, headache frequency, and severity and a non-significant reduction in headache duration in the yoga group. There was no significant difference in the plasma levels of NO between yoga and control groups before and after the study. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, yoga could be recommended as a complementary method to migraine patients.