RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

PEFR is one of the specific parameters considered as a direct indicator of the airway potency in asthmatic and is closely used in therapeutic trials on asthma. 

Table 1 shows the distribution of patient in different categories of ' f ' value referred to PEFR observed/PEFRPredicted. 

Predicted PEFR was obtained for each patient by referring to Kamat's norms of pulmonary function test for south Indian population. If the observed PEFR is equal to predicted PEFR, f=1, Lower f value indicates the severity of airway obstruction. Result shows an increase in the number of patients moving towards higher ' f ' values clearly indicating the normalising tendency of PEFR after yoga therapy. 

Table II shows % changes in PEFR 46.5% (231) had 10-100% increase in PEFR. ' t' tests showed significance at P<0.005.

Table III Daily PEFR Value

On the whole increase in PEFR was highly significant. PEFR had shown high levels of significance in all grades of severity in seasonal group.

In perennial group as a whole there was no significant change in PEFR. When they wore divided Into 3 grades of severity, PEFR was not significant in grade 2.

Daily PEFR was recorded in l6l patients with bronchial asthma undergoing yoga training.

Table IV shows the PEFR values of patients daily from 1st to 15th day.

The values depict an increasing trend from the first day to the last day of the programme. Similar trend was found in all the 4 training programmes.

It is well known that liability of airways is the problem in asthmatics. The calibre of airways have wide fluctuations from day to day and within the same day, depending on various factors Diurnal variations with (morning Dippers) is well documented. Hence any study designed to assess the effectiveness of a treatment method should include frequent PEFR recordings. 

The yoga practices used are useful in improving the airways obstruction within a short period of 15 days of yoga training. The gradually increasing trend involving PEFR shows the steady improvernent in their clinical state even while the persons were being introduced into the practices.