Yoga in Children with Epilepsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

CONTEXT: Majority of epilepsy begins in childhood. Twenty to thirty percent of patients may not respond to antiepileptic drugs. Yoga as a complementary therapy has been found to be beneficial in adults, but has not yet been studied in children with epilepsy. AIM: To study the effect of yoga on seizure and electroencephalogram (EEG) outcome in children with epilepsy. SETTING AND DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in the pediatric neurology outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty children aged 8–12 years with an unequivocal diagnosis of epilepsy on regular antiepileptic drugs were enrolled. Yoga therapy was provided to 10 children (study group) and 10 children formed the control group. Yoga therapy was given as 10 sessions of 1h each. We compared seizure frequency and EEG at baseline, 3, and 6 months. Statistical analysis was carried out using standard statistical tests. A P value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: No children had seizures at the end of 3 and 6 months in the study group. In the control group, at 3 and 6 months, four and three children, respectively, had seizures. Eight children each in both the groups had an abnormal EEG at enrollment. At the end of 6 months, one EEG in the study group and seven in the control group were abnormal (P = 0.020). CONCLUSION: Yoga as an additional therapy in children with epilepsy leads to seizure freedom and significant improvement in EEG at 6 months.