IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 13, Issue 7 Ver. V (July. 2014), PP 32-42 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 32 | Page Efficacy of Yoga versus Relaxation Techniques on Climacteric Symptoms of Perimenopausal women Dr.Prabhnoor Kaur 1 , Dr.Sandeep Kaur 1 , Dr.Saravanan Shanmugam 1 , Dr.Manpreet Kang 1 1 Department of Physiotherapy, Lovely Professional University, India Abstract : Between the age of 45 to 60 years, 85% of the women display the typical symptoms of climacterium. Out of these 35% of the women experience little weakness, 35% display moderate symptoms, 25% complain of severe pain and 5 % of these are so much affected that they are incapable of working. There have been number of alternative treatments available for treating climacteric symptoms apart from hormonal therapy. The present comparative study is aimed to find out the advantages of one therapy over other so that it could be easily followed by women suffering from climacteric syndrome. Materials & Methods: It was two group simple randomized design 250 women were screened, out of which 132 perimenopausal were used for selecting 60 samples by purposive sampling with random allocation by using lottery method and equally divided into two groups. Results: There was significant improvement in all the parameters of climacterium (Psychological, vasomotor and somatic) except the sexual component within both the groups because of their mechanism of working on sympathetic nervous system by decreasing the cortisol levels and modulating central adrenergic activity. Keywords: Climacterium, Green Climacteric Scale, Kupperman’s Index, Perceived Stress Scale, Perimenopause I. Introduction Between the age group of 45 to 60 years of age, 85% of the women display the typical symptoms of climacterium. Out of these 35% of the affected women experience some weakness or not at all burdened by it, 35% displays moderate symptoms, 25% complaint of severe pain and 5% of these are so affected that they are incapable of working. If compared to the other bodily organs, menopause (climacterium) characterized by a premature ageing of the ovaries. It is the rapid decline of the estrogen level and the progesterone contents in the blood which are responsible for many vegetative and psychical symptoms affecting the large number of women. Because of the interrelationship between the endocrine and nervous system any decrease in the estrogen production affects the central equilibrium. For the major part this hormone deficit is responsible for the menopausal disorders. However, the significance of the manifestation of the symptoms originating from each independent psychogenic process should not be under estimated. The processes occurring during menopause affect the complete individual. Each women reacts differently to the physical changes taking place and very often these changes also coincide with a change in the living condition. A women’s own disposition and above all her attitude allowing her to adapt to new life activities in advanced age are decisive factors for the intensity at which many climacteric afflictions are manifested. Considerable strain ensues from these afflictions which tremendously affect the quality of life of the women. Peri and Postmenopausal women often seek medical help and climacteric symptoms are their most common reason for doing so. These symptoms are due to changes in the ovarian function during the menopause. Moreover, psychosocial and other age related changes also cause certain physical symptoms. There are number of treatments available for treating climacteric symptoms and the commonly used one is the Hormonal Therapy with sex steroids, but the use of HT has fallen dramatically due to increasing risk for breast and endometrial cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke and thromboembolism and less commonly uterine bleeding, hemorrhage, arthralgia, emotional changes rash, Pruritis and weight gain. Thus an increasing number of women are turning to complementary and alternative therapies like Yoga , (which incorporates physical poses, breathing exercises and meditation) and Relaxation Techniques (including Paced breathing, Progressive Muscle relaxation and Guided imagery) which help attenuate Climacteric Symptoms by improving the indices of Psychological and physical health without any side effects. The present comparative study is aimed to find out the equivalent effects of relaxation techniques with yoga therapy, so that it could be easily followed by all women suffering from Climacteric Syndrome who cannot perform difficult yoga asana. This will help in developing a protocol that will be symptom specific as menopause is a part of natural ageing process.