- Design
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials
- Population
- 651 patients with rheumatoid arthritis across eight trials
- Primary outcome
- Disease activity, function and inflammatory markers
- Effect
- DAS28 -0.44 (-0.56 to -0.31) and interleukin-6 -0.65 (-1.17 to -0.13); HAQ-DI unchanged
Mind-body practices are widely used alongside drug therapy in rheumatoid arthritis, and in India yoga is a familiar and accessible option. This meta-analysis of eight randomised trials and 651 patients assessed what it adds.
Yoga reduced the DAS28 disease-activity score (standardised mean difference -0.44, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.31) and lowered serum interleukin-6 (-0.65, -1.17 to -0.13). It did not significantly change physical function on the HAQ-DI, and the effect on tumour necrosis factor-alpha was not significant.
The reasonable reading is that yoga is a useful adjunct — improving disease-activity scores and a key inflammatory marker, and plausibly mood and stress — but not a replacement for disease-modifying therapy, and not shown to improve day-to-day function. Offered on that basis, it fits well into care, especially where it is culturally accessible.
- Meta-analysis of eight randomised trials, 651 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
- Yoga reduced DAS28 (standardised mean difference -0.44, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.31).
- It lowered serum interleukin-6 (-0.65, -1.17 to -0.13).
- No significant change in physical function (HAQ-DI) or in tumour necrosis factor-alpha.
- Offer it as an adjunct, not a substitute for disease-modifying therapy.
Why it matters
It gives an evidence base for a low-cost, accessible adjunct many patients already use, while marking its limits.
Don't overread it
The functional endpoint was unchanged and trials were small; yoga complements, rather than replaces, drug therapy.
The statistics, in plain English
A standardised mean difference around -0.44 is a small-to-moderate benefit with the interval clear of zero; the flat HAQ-DI result means the gains did not translate into measured physical function.
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