HATHA-YOGA: A NOVEL APPROACH TO THYROID DISORDER

*Dr. Poornima Jalawadi, Dr. Nivil V. Joseph and Anand Sultanpure

ABSTRACT

Thyroid disorders create a state of induced stress in the body as a result of which the person exhibit symptoms such as weight gain (or loss), anxiety, nervousness, irritability, mood swings, irregular menses etc. Generally, all these can be attributed to imbalance in thyroid hormones. But on other hand, we also know that there are several other chemical entities in our body such as Cortisol, Adrenaline, Catecholamines, Insulin, Vasopressin etc which are directly or indirectly responsible for these set of symptoms. These biochemicals are intricately linked to one another. Our body‟s responses to various situations can be explained in terms of how these biochemicals affect us at cellular level. Hatha-Yoga is known to have cause the reduction in intensity of several of above mentioned symptoms. Recent advancements in the field of epigenetics have changed the way how we look at the diseases caused due to genetic factors. Possible explanation is suggested in this article and it is proposed that there may be a chance to discover a novel approach in treating the thyroid disorders as per the traditional knowledge of ayurveda. A well designed study is needed to establish if the practice of Hatha-Yoga can have any beneficial effect on those individuals who are at high risk due to genetic predisposition or the patients diagnosed with Thyroid Disorders.

Keywords: Cortisol, Adrenaline, Catecholamines, Insulin, Vasopressin.