Introduction: Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that often causes motor disorders such as bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity and postural disorders. Treatment of Parkinson's disease is symptomatic, mainly with dopaminergic therapy, which can have unwanted side effects as the disease progresses. Yoga can improve strength, flexibility, coordination and balance, and could probably be used in the treatment of Parkinson's patients. Purpose: The purpose of this review was to examine the effects of yoga practice on improving balance and functional mobility in people with Parkinson's disease. Methods: We used a 10-year timeframe between 2012 and 2022. The literature was searched in English with the keywords Parkinson's disease, yoga and effects in PubMed, Science Direct, PEDro and Cochrane Library databases. Results: Six articles were included in the more detailed analysis. There were 132 patients in total, all with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. The patients in the experimental groups practised yoga. The exercise programmes lasted between 8 and 12 weeks, from 30 to 60 minutes. All six included studies have found that practising yoga helps to improve balance and functionalmobility. A statistically significant difference between the two groups was found in one study for balance improvement and in two studies for functional mobility improvement. Within the experimental group, a statistically significant difference was found in the improvement of balance in four studies and in the improvement of functional mobility also in four studies. Discussion and conclusion: The results show that yoga has a statistically significant effect on improving static balance. Statistically significant effects on improving dynamic balance and functional mobility vary between studies, so it is advised to combine yoga with other forms of balance and functional mobility training. Hatha yoga with asanas in lying, sitting and standing positions and relaxation at the end of the session proved to be the most effective. The small number of current studies with small samples of subjects suggests the need for additional research to examine the effects of yoga practice over a longer period of time. A standardised yoga practice protocol would also be needed to facilitate the implementation of yoga in the clinical setting.
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