Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and their Management through Yoga Therapy: A Narrative Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common metabolic and endocrine disorder among women, with a prevalence ranging from 2.2% to 26%. PCOS is associated with unhealthy lifestyle and physical inactivity affects disproportionately. Yoga is mind-body stress-relieving therapy, and by the different interventions researchers are increasing their focus on the benefits of yoga for PCOS. It is also important for physicians and health -care professionals to understand the therapeutic efficacy of yoga intervention, in terms of its type, duration, and frequency on various PCOS risk factors. After discussing the pathogenesis of PCOS, the present review summarizes the current scientific understanding of the effects of yoga on PCOS and the risk factors associated with such as obesity, stress, and insulin sensitivity. An extensive search in Google scholar, Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library was searched using the keywords “Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome,” “Obesity,” “Stress,” “Epidemiology,” “Pathophysiology,” “Diagnostic criteria,” and “Effect of yoga.” Based on these preliminary results, yoga therapy reduces the risk factor associated with the PCOS that may be suggested as a safer and affordable therapy for PCOS. More rigorous research and well-designed trials that have a higher standard of methodology and evaluate yoga’s long-term impacts on PCOS are needed. Understanding yoga’s biochemical and molecular mechanisms of action on various metabolic pathways is also needed.