In October 2017 researchers from the UK published their review of the scientific literature to assess whether individuals with epilepsy practising yoga (a) have a greater probability of becoming seizure free, (b) have a significant reduction in the frequency or duration of seizures, or both; and (c) have a better quality of life. Two studies involving 50 individuals (18 practising yoga and 32 other interventions) were identified. The start-up phase lasted three months in both studies and the “intervention” phase from 5 weeks to 6 months. Results showed that yoga may help to control the number of seizures experienced when compared with no intervention or interventions other than yoga (eg postural exercises mimicking yoga). However, they felt that no reliable conclusions could be drawn because of the limited information currently available and that further high-quality research was required to fully assess the effectiveness of yoga for epilepsy.
Panebianco M et al. Yoga for epilepsy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Oct 5;10: CD001524