With age, sedentary lifestyle, and stress, all impact on the onset of obesity and have influence on brain health during the development of the disease. The onset of cognitive deficit occurs in 2 phases of the lifespan; first in early years (5-7) years when the development of brain systems occurs and the second; late year (>60 years) when neurodegeneration occurs which symbolizes the aging process.
Cognitive dysfunction mostly affects the elderly population and cognitive dysfunction which is believed to be a complication of diabetes makes it a risk factor for occurrence of dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD). HbgA1C which is considered a gold standard for diagnosing diabetes; and is inversely related to cognitive function. Glycemic control is considered neuroprotective as per some study done on type 2 diabetic patients. Alterations in insulin and glucose metabolism are critical in progression of AD pathology. According to one study post mortem change that contains large amount of Amyloid-β and tau confirms the association of diabetes with AD (Pal et al., 2017).
It has been found that yoga focuses on physical exercise, breathing exercise and meditation and when practiced on a regular basis helps in controlling the mind and body. Yoga shows its benefits for improving nerve conduction and cognitive functions in diabetic patients leading to effective management of diabetic complications.
One study showed a close association between brain insulin sensitivity and visceral adipose tissue changes due to lifestyle intervention. Another study showed the effectiveness of yoga in improving the cognitive function of T2DM patients (Pal et al., 2017).
Another study has shown that yoga also has immunomodulatory on stress via increased level of immunoglobulin A along with the natural killer cells. Another study had shown that yoga helps in reducing the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein and cytokine and adiponectin (Kodl & Seaquist, 2008).
Yoga has also been shown to be effective in reducing weight in relation to obesity, which is associated with the risk of developing T2DM, and provide a feeling of wellbeing in a person from the psychological view point (Pal et al., 2017).
Reference
Chan, J. C., Malik, V., Jia, W., Kadowaki, T., Yajnik, C. S., Yoon, K. H., & Hu, F. B. (2009). Diabetes in Asia: epidemiology, risk factors, and pathophysiology. Jama, 301(20), 2129-2140.
Kodl, C. T., & Seaquist, E. R. (2008). Cognitive dysfunction and diabetes mellitus. Endocrine reviews, 29(4), 494-511.
Pal, D. K., Bhalla, A., Bammidi, S., Telles, S., Kohli, A., Kumar, S., ... & Malik, N. (2017). Can Yoga-Based Diabetes Management Studies Facilitate Integrative Medicine in India Current Status and Future Directions. Integrative Medicine International, 4(3-4), 125-141.