6-Week Yoga Betters Sperm, Reduces Pregnancy Loss: Reveals AIIMS Study

New Delhi: A six-week yoga regimen enhances attributes of sperm in male partners of couples who had experienced recurrent pregnancy loss or repeated embryonic implantation failure, reveals a study by the researchers at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

The researchers studied the impact of yoga on 60 volunteers. The volunteers performed yogic postures, pranayam and meditation during the six weeks of study. The recent findings add importance to the inclusion of yoga as “adjunct therapy” to lower the risk of early pregnancy failure. The findings were published in the international journal Scientific Reports.

Their study has documented significant increases in sperm concentration and motility and favourable changes in a specific set of genes known to influence fertilisation, implantation and pregnancy success.

The AIIMS team invited 30 male partners of couples who had experienced recurrent pregnancy loss and 30 male partners of couples that had experienced embryonic implantation failure to adopt the yoga regimen.

At the end of six weeks, the researchers also observed a significant increase in the length of sperm telomeres — or structures made from DNA and proteins that are found at the ends of chromosomes.