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The Hindu
14-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Yoga practitioners in India rise to 542 million: CCRYN director
Raghavendra Rao, Director of the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN), New Delhi, on Monday said that 11.38% of India's population practices yoga, and the number of people embracing the ancient art is steadily increasing. Speaking at the 'Cardio Yoga Summit-2025: Healing Diabetes Through Yogic Integration', at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research (SJICSR), here, Dr. Rao said 542 million people in the country are practicing yoga, realising its significance for health. The number of yoga practitioners was 300 million in 2005, which has risen to 542 million in 2025, with a sharp rise among both the young and the elderly. The summit was organised in collaboration with the Government Ayurveda Research Centre, Mysuru, and the Department of AYUSH. Dr. Rao said there is not much difference between urban and rural areas in terms of yoga practitioners, and nearly 17% of the youth have taken to yoga, realising its benefits. 'People across age groups – young, middle-aged, and elderly – are taking up yoga courses and practicing yoga regularly,' he said. He also noted that the Union government has been promoting yoga in a big way, and the record turnout at Visakhapatnam during the International Day of Yoga 2025 is an indicator. Despite India being a yoga hub, research on yoga is not encouraging compared to studies being carried out in the United States, United Kingdom, and even Russia. 'If only 19% of studies on yoga are from India, it is 41% in the US,' he observed. He suggested that institutions should collaborate to carry out research in yoga, and collaborations with institutes such as Sri Jayadeva Institute can go a long way in this direction. K.S. Sadananda, medical superintendent, SJICSR, said that India is described as the diabetes capital of the world, along with increasing cases of heart diseases. Despite technological advancements, the incidence of diabetes continues to rise, and the number of people seeking help following a spurt in heart attacks is also going up. Attributing sedentary lifestyle as a major reason for the rise in diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, he said lifestyle modification is the need of the hour, and yoga plays an important role in addressing lifestyle diseases. 'Neither modern medicine nor yoga alone is the answer to these diseases. There is a need for integration of modern medicine and yogic medicine,' he added, calling for more research in yoga. Former Vice-Chancellor K.S. Rangappa, who delivered the chief guest address virtually, said type-2 diabetes continues to challenge the public health system. 'The number of people with type-2 diabetes was 31 million in 2000, and it can go up to 79 million in 2030. Yoga can be one of the answers to address lifestyle diseases. It can be an effective medium,' he said. The keynote address was delivered by M.A. Shekar, Vice-chancellor, Adichunchangiri University. SJICSR Bengaluru director Ravindranath delivered his presidential address, virtually. L.N. Shenoy, assistant director, GARC, Mysuru, was present.
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
No direct correlation between cardiovascular events and COVID-19 exposure and vaccination: Study
A pilot observational study by the State-run Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research (SJICSR) has not found any association between premature cardiovascular disease and a prior history of COVID-19 infection, or COVID vaccination. Amid mounting public anxiety over the rising trend of sudden cardiovascular events (heart attack, sudden cardiac death) post-COVID-19 pandemic, the Karnataka government had in February this year set up an expert committee headed by Jayadeva Director K. S. Ravindranath to evaluate the temporal and potential causal links with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or COVID-19 vaccination. The cross-sectional study involving 251 patients, including 32 females, aged below 45 years, was aimed at presenting evidence-based insights, identifying risk factors, and proposing recommendations for surveillance and prevention. The committee submitted its report to Harsh Gupta, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare on July 4. Under-recognised mechanisms 'Although conventional risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and smoking, remain prevalent in a majority of the 251 patients, a significant minority of patients presented with none of these, suggesting the possible involvement of novel or under-recognized mechanisms,' Dr Ravindranath told The Hindu. According to the report, while 87 of the patients were diabetic, 102 were hypertensive, 35 were having cholesterol disorder, 40 had family history of heart diseases, 111 were smokers, and 77 patients did not have any of the conventional risk factors. As many as 19 out of 251 patients had a history of previous COVID-19 infection. Of the 19, seven each had diabetes and hypertension, two had a family history, eight had no risk factors. Almost all (249) of the 251 patients had been vaccinated against COVID. While 53 received only one dose, 180 received two doses, and 17 received all three doses of a vaccine. As many as 144 had been vaccinated with Covishield, 64 with Covaxin, and 52 were unaware of which vaccine they had received. Comparative data To compare the risk factor profile of similar premature coronary artery disease patients prior to the pandemic, the team used data from the institute's Premature Coronary Artery Disease (PCAD) among the young registry maintained at the institute between April 1, 2019 and May 31, 2019. As the PCAD registry was maintained for patients aged under 40 years, a subset of patients from the present study aged below 40 years were grouped and compared with the 2019 age and sex-matched population. Analysing all national and international peer reviewed scientific literature, journal articles, clinical studies and clinical registries to study the possible association of sudden cardiovascular events with past history of COVID-19 infection and vaccination, the Jayadeva committee noted that most studies and reports published globally have also not found any causal association between COVID vaccination and sudden cardiovascular events. 'On the contrary, COVID vaccination has been shown to be protective against cardiac events in the long term,' the report stated. No single cause 'Our study has not found any single cause behind the observed rise in sudden cardiac deaths. Rather, it appears to be a multi-factorial issue, with behavioural, genetic, and environmental risks. While in the immediate post-COVID phase, there is an increase in the incidence of sudden cardiovascular events due to a pro-inflammatory state, the same cannot be held to be true in the long term (>1 year). It has been three years since the end of the pandemic,' Dr Ravindranath said. He said current data does not support the belief that 'long COVID' is responsible for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events among the young. 'Rather, a rise in the prevalence of the common risk factors that lead to cardiovascular disease (hypertension, diabetes, smoking , dyslipidemia) is the best explanation for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events. In light of these findings, a multi-faceted public health strategy is essential,' he asserted. Recommendations Pointing out that the strategy should include establishing a robust surveillance system for sudden cardiac deaths, particularly among young adults, the Jayadeva director said implementing autopsy-based registries and integrating early cardiovascular screening at the school level is vital. 'Importantly, large-scale, prospective, multicentric studies are needed to better delineate the long-term cardiovascular effects of both COVID-19 infection and vaccination,' he explained. Recommendations
