Browsing by Author "Desiraju, T."

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Oxygen consumption during pranayamic type of very slow-rate breathing
(Indian Journal of Medical Research, 1991) Telles, Shirley; Desiraju, T.
To determine whether the yogic Ujjayi pranayamic type of breathing that involves sensory awareness and consciously controlled, extremely slow-rate breathing including at least a period of end-inspiration breath holding in each respiratory cycle would alter oxygen consumption or not, ten males with long standing experience in pranayama, and volunteering to participate in the laboratory study were assessed. These subjects aged 28-59 years, had normal health appropriate to their age. Since Kumbhak (timed breath holding) is considered as an important phase of the respiratory cycle in the pranayama, they were categorised into two groups of five each, one group practising the short Kumbhak varieties of pranayama, and the other the long Kumbhak varieties of pranayama. The duration of Kumbhak phase was on an average 22.2 per cent of the respiratory cycle in the short Kumbhak group and 50.4 per cent in the long Kumbhak group. The oxygen consumption was measured in test sessions using the closed circuit method of breathing oxygen through the Benedict-Roth spirometer. Each subject was tested in several repeat sessions. Values of oxygen consumption of the period of pranayamic breathing, and of post- pranayamic breathing period, were compared to control value of oxygen consumption of the prepranayamic breathing period of each test session. The results revealed that the short Kumbhak pranayamic breathing caused a statistically significant increase (52%) in the oxygen consumption (and metabolic rate) compared to the pre-pranayamic base-line period of breathing. In contrast to the above, the long Kumbhak pranayamic breathing caused a statistically significant lowering (19%) of the oxygen consumption (and metabolic rate). The values returned to near normal in the post-pranayamic periods. The data provide a basis to indicate that different types of pranayamic breathing may lead to different types of alterations in the oxygen consumption and metabolic rate.
Physiological changes in sports teachers following 3 months of training in Yoga
(Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 1993) Telles, Shirley; Nagarathna R.; Nagendra H.R.; Desiraju, T.
Three months of training in the ancient Indian science of Yoga, which included different asanas (physical postures) and Pranayamas (voluntary regulation of the breathing) has following effects in normal, hea1thy subjects, viz a significant reduction in heart rate, BP and an increase in mean skin temperature, and alpha index of EEG, reduction in blood glucose, plasma cholesterol, dopamine B hydroxylase and monoamine oxidase, and increased levels of urinary 17-keto steroids. These changes were interpreted as a shift in autonomic equilibrium towards parasympathetic dominance. The present study was conducted to assess whether yogic training of the same duration (3 months) would cause physiological changes in 40 male physical education teachers whose ages were between 25 and 48 years (34.7 + 5.9), and who had already been actively engaged in diverse physical activities for 8.9 + 5.8 years.
Recording of auditory middle latency evoked potentials during the practice of meditation with the syllable ‘OM’
(Indian Journal of Medical Research,, 1993-08-03) Telles, Shirley; Desiraju, T.
Middle latency auditory evoked potentials were examined in 7 proficient subjects during the practice of meditation on the syllable "Om", to determine whether these potentials would differ significantly from those recorded during the baseline state without practicing meditation. Similar records were also obtained in 7 "naive" subjects, matched for age, before and during a control period which involved sitting with eyes closed, and with no special instructions for focusing their thoughts. There was considerable inter-subject variability in the different components. However, during meditation there was a small but significant reduction in the peak latency of the Nb wave (the maximum negativity occurring between 35 and 65 msec). This reduction was observed consistently during the 3 repeat sessions of each subject, while the "naive" subjects did not show this change. These results suggest that the inter-subject variability of middle latency auditory evoked potentials precludes using them as the method of choice for assessing the effects of meditation. The small but consistent decrease in the Nb wave peak latency, indicates that the middle latency auditory evoked potentials do change with meditation. However, the variability of the potentials may mask subtle changes.