‘Yoga boosts immune system of people living with HIV/AIDS’

The Mumbai District AIDS Control (MDACS) on Wednesday said yoga helps in improving immunity among the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients. Based on this idea, a civic health officer said MDACS is likely to start two new yoga centres in hospitals. He said health condition of patients was improving after practising yoga.

Patients who perform yoga regularly improve upon their health on a daily basis, the official said, stressing, “Over the past six months, they are practicing yoga regularly which has helped the patients to increase their immunity levels.”

He said CD4 counts of these patients were between 400 and 1000 before they started with yoga.

Dr. Shrilakha Acharya, Additional Project Director at MDACS, said, “We started a pilot project after the International Yoga Day with the thought that patients should engage in some activities and got unbelievable results due to which patients physical and mental condition has improved.”

Acharya further said AIDS patients who have registered for the Antiretroviral Therapy are also part of the yoga program that was started at the Wadala campus. “More than 25 patients had attended yoga session every Saturday due to which there has been a rise in their CD4 count which plays an important role in the immune system,” the official said.

After considering the improvement in patients whose CD4 count was below 500, civic health officials have decided to start more yoga centres in Mumbai. “We have constructed two new yoga centres – one at Rajawadi Hospital and the other at Bhardawadi Municipal Hospital, Andheri – which will start soon. Lots of centres have also come forward proactively to start yoga sessions,” the health officer added.