Researchers studied four patients with both chronic kidney disease and heart disease who weren’t satisfied with traditional medical treatments. These patients participated in a 15-day program combining yoga, acupuncture, water therapy, and special diets. Tests measuring how well their hearts’ nervous systems worked showed significant improvements in all four patients. Their heart rate patterns became more balanced, stress markers decreased, and their bodies showed better control of the automatic nervous system that regulates heart function. While this is a very small study, the results suggest that combining yoga with natural healing approaches might help improve heart health in people with these serious conditions.

The Quick Take

  • What they studied: Whether combining yoga, acupuncture, water therapy, and special diets could improve how well the heart’s automatic nervous system works in people with both chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease.
  • Who participated: Four patients (three men and one woman) between ages 39 and 56 who had severe kidney disease and heart disease, and who felt that standard medical treatments weren’t helping them enough.
  • Key finding: All four patients showed improvements in heart function measurements after 15 days of the combined program. For example, one patient’s stress index dropped from 96.4 to 44.8, and another’s heart rate variability improved significantly, suggesting their hearts’ nervous systems became more balanced and efficient.
  • What it means for you: This small study suggests that yoga and natural therapies might help people with serious kidney and heart disease feel better and improve how their hearts work. However, this was only four people, so much more research is needed before doctors could recommend this as a standard treatment. Always talk to your doctor before starting any new health program.

The Research Details

This was a case series, which means researchers followed a small group of four individual patients through a treatment program and carefully tracked what happened to each one. The patients participated in an intense 15-day program that included daily yoga sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes, acupuncture treatments, hydrotherapy (water-based therapy), hands-on manipulative therapy, and a specialized diet based on naturopathic principles. Before and after the program, doctors measured how well each patient’s heart’s automatic nervous system was working using a test called heart rate variability analysis, which looks at the patterns in how fast or slow the heart beats.

The researchers chose patients who had confirmed severe kidney disease (with very low kidney function) and heart disease, and who had already tried conventional medical treatments without getting the results they wanted. This approach allowed the researchers to look closely at each individual’s response to the treatment and see if there were patterns across all four patients.

Because this is a case series with only four people and no control group (a group that didn’t receive the treatment), it’s considered preliminary research. The main purpose is to describe what happened and suggest whether this approach might be worth studying more carefully in larger, more rigorous studies.

When people have both kidney disease and heart disease, their hearts often don’t work as well as they should, and their automatic nervous system (which controls things like heart rate without you thinking about it) becomes unbalanced. This can be dangerous. Conventional treatments help some people but not everyone. By studying whether yoga and natural therapies might help, researchers are exploring whether combining different approaches might work better for some patients. Understanding how these therapies affect the nervous system could help doctors offer more options to patients who aren’t satisfied with standard treatments alone.

This study has important limitations to understand: it only included four patients, so the results might not apply to other people. There was no comparison group of patients who didn’t receive the treatment, so we can’t be sure the improvements were caused by the program rather than other factors. The patients knew they were receiving treatment, which can sometimes influence how they feel and perform on tests. The study was published in a journal focused on integrative medicine, which is good for this type of research, but the small size means these results should be seen as preliminary and interesting rather than definitive proof. More research with larger groups and better controls would be needed to confirm these findings.

What the Results Show

All four patients showed improvements in multiple measurements of how their hearts’ nervous systems worked. One key measurement called the RR interval (the time between heartbeats) increased in all patients, which generally indicates a healthier heart rhythm. For example, one patient’s RR interval went from 582 milliseconds to 675 milliseconds. Another important measurement called RMSSD, which shows how active the calming part of the nervous system is, improved dramatically in one patient from 22.5 to 46.9 milliseconds.

The Stress Index, which measures how stressed the nervous system is, decreased in all four patients. One patient showed a particularly large improvement, dropping from 96.4 to 44.8. This suggests their body was less stressed and more relaxed after the program. The LF/HF ratio, which measures the balance between two parts of the automatic nervous system, moved toward healthier, more balanced levels in all patients. One patient’s ratio improved from 2.633 to 0.995, indicating much better balance.

These improvements suggest that the combined program helped calm and balance the automatic nervous system that controls heart function. A calmer, more balanced nervous system is generally associated with better heart health and lower risk of heart problems.

The study noted that patients reported symptom improvements including easier breathing and reduced chest heaviness, though specific measurements of these improvements weren’t detailed in the abstract. The fact that improvements appeared across all four patients, despite their individual differences, suggests the program might have consistent effects. The combination of multiple therapies (yoga, acupuncture, water therapy, hands-on therapy, and diet) made it impossible to determine which specific component was most helpful, but the overall package appeared beneficial.

Previous research has shown that yoga can help improve heart function and reduce stress in various patient populations. This study adds to that body of evidence by specifically looking at patients with the challenging combination of severe kidney disease and heart disease, a group that hasn’t been studied as much. The improvements in heart rate variability measurements are consistent with what other yoga studies have found, but the addition of naturopathic approaches and the focus on very sick patients makes this somewhat novel. However, because this is such a small study, it should be seen as preliminary evidence that warrants larger, more rigorous studies rather than definitive proof.

This study has several important limitations: Only four patients were studied, which is very small and means results might not apply to other people. There was no control group (patients who didn’t receive treatment) to compare against, so we can’t be completely sure the improvements were caused by the program rather than other factors like natural improvement over time or the placebo effect (feeling better because you expect to feel better). The study lasted only 15 days, so we don’t know if improvements lasted longer or if they were temporary. We don’t know what happened to these patients after the program ended. The patients were selected because they were unsatisfied with conventional treatment, which might mean they were more motivated or had different characteristics than typical patients. Finally, we don’t know which parts of the program (yoga, acupuncture, water therapy, diet, or the combination) were most responsible for the improvements.

The Bottom Line

Based on this very small preliminary study, we cannot yet recommend this program as a standard treatment. However, the results are interesting enough to suggest that people with kidney disease and heart disease who are interested in complementary approaches might discuss yoga and naturopathic therapies with their doctors as a possible addition to their regular medical care. Any such program should be done under medical supervision and should not replace conventional medical treatment. More research with larger groups of patients is needed before strong recommendations can be made. Confidence level: Low to Very Low (this is preliminary evidence from a very small study).

This research is most relevant to people with both chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease, particularly those who feel their current medical treatments aren’t giving them the results they want. It may also interest doctors and healthcare providers who work with these patients and want to understand complementary approaches. People with only kidney disease or only heart disease should not assume these results apply to them without more research. People with other health conditions should not try this program without consulting their doctors first.

In this study, improvements in heart function measurements were seen after just 15 days of the intensive program. However, we don’t know if these improvements continued after the program ended or how long they lasted. Realistic expectations would be to see some changes within a few weeks if you were to try a similar program, but longer-term benefits and whether improvements stick around would require more research to understand.

Want to Apply This Research?

  • Users could track daily yoga practice duration (in minutes), note any changes in breathing difficulty or chest heaviness on a simple 1-10 scale, and monitor resting heart rate if they have a device that measures it. Recording these weekly would help show patterns over time.
  • Start with 20-30 minutes of gentle yoga daily (rather than the 60-75 minutes in this study) and gradually increase duration. Focus on breathing exercises and relaxation poses. Users could set daily reminders for yoga practice and log completion in the app, plus note any symptom changes like easier breathing or less chest heaviness.
  • Track weekly averages of resting heart rate, daily yoga minutes completed, and symptom severity scores. Compare month-to-month trends to see if there are improvements. Users should also maintain regular check-ins with their doctor and share app data to ensure the program is safe and effective for their specific situation.

This research describes results from only four patients in a small preliminary study and should not be considered definitive medical advice. If you have chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, or any serious health condition, you must consult with your doctor before starting any new treatment program, including yoga or naturopathic therapies. This program should only be used as a complement to, not a replacement for, conventional medical care prescribed by your healthcare provider. Results in this small study may not apply to other patients. Always inform your doctor about any complementary therapies you are considering or using.