Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 16(3), June 2017, pp. S 21-S 24 Role of Yoga in childhood asthma Shruti Agnihotri 1 , *Surya Kant 1 , SK Mishra 2 & Pooja Singh 3 1 Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George's Medical University, Lucknow-226003, UP, India; 2 Institute of Naturopathic and Yogic Sciences, Lucknow University, Lucknow-226007, 3 Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, UP E-mails: saishruti.agnihotri@gmail.com, dr.kantskt@rediffmail.com*, satyendramishra.yoga@gmail.com, poojagaur86@gmail.com Received, revised 7 April 2017 Significant amount of money spent in healthcare is used for treatments of lifestyle related problems. Yoga, as a branch of complementary alternative medicine, has emerged and is showing to be an effective treatment against non-communicable diseases. The objective of this study is to conduct a review regarding the problems of the childhood asthma and the benefits of the yoga. Asthma is an ongoing or chronic disease of the airways in the lungs called bronchial tubes. Bronchial tubes carry air in and out of the lungs. In people with asthma, the walls of the airways become swollen (inflamed) and oversensitive. Asthmatic airways overreact to things like viruses, smoke, dust, mould, animal hair, cockroaches, and pollen. Asthma is a problem worldwide with an estimated 300 million affected individuals. According to WHO report, about 3 million annual deaths attributed to this disease. It is estimated that the number of people with asthma will grow by more than 100 million by 2025. The current review shows that yoga can be useful in control of the disease if it is regularly done by the children in their childhood with standard medical treatment. Keywords: Asthma, Chronic, Complementary, Lifestyle, Yoga IPC Int. Cl. 8 : A01D 11/18, A01D 14/05 Asthma is an ongoing or chronic disease of the airways in the lungs called bronchial tubes. Bronchial tubes carry air in and out of the lungs. In people with asthma, the walls of the airways become swollen (inflamed) and oversensitive. Asthmatic airways overreact to things like viruses, smoke, dust, mould, animal hair, cockroaches, and pollen. When they react, airways get narrower. This limits the flow of air into and out of the lungs. Hence, asthma causes wheezing, coughing, tightness in the chest and trouble breathing. Asthma in most cases starts either in childhood or in middle age. Early onset asthma is slightly more common in males and ‘Late Onset’ asthma in females. ‘Early Onset Asthma’ generally occurs in atopic individuals, i.e., those who readily form IgE antibodies to commonly encountered allergens. Such individuals can be identified by skin sensitivity tests, which produce positive reactions to a wide range of common allergens. ‘Late Onset Asthma’ generally occurs in non- atopic individuals, and it would appear that external allergens play no part in the production of this form of the disease, to which the term ‘intrinsic asthma’ is sometimes applied. Asthma is a problem worldwide with an estimated 300 million affected individuals 1-2 . According to WHO- 2007 report, about 3 million annual deaths attributed to this disease. It is estimated that the number of people with asthma will grow by more than 100 million by 2025 3 . National Academy on an Aging Society, 2000 reported that asthma is the most common chronic condition among children 4 . Prevalence of asthma- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vital Signs (May 2011) reported that the number of people with asthma continues to grow 5 . One in 12 people (about 25 million, or 8 % of the US population) had asthma in 2009, compared with 1 in 14 (about 20 million, or 7 %) in 2001. More than half (53 %) of people with asthma had an asthma attack in 2008. More children (57 %) than adults (51 %) had an attack. 185 children and 3,262 adults died from asthma in 2007. About 1 in 10 children (10 %) had asthma and 1 in 12 adults (8 %) had asthma in 2009. Women were more —————— *Corresponding author