Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Perspective
  • Clinical
  • Published:

Yoga, benign prostatic hyperplasia and lower urinary tract symptoms: a new path for clinical trials

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Yoga is widely used as a therapeutic approach to enhance physical and mental well-being, addressing various biophysiological issues. It is effective in managing chronic back pain, alleviating older adults’ fear of falling, and treating asthma [1, 2]. Additionally, it boosts respiratory function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, enhances health in women battling cancer, and helps prevent cardiovascular diseases. Yoga also supports additional treatments for schizophrenia, improves life quality for individuals with epilepsy, mitigates emotional stress, combats fatigue, and lessens depression. Furthermore, studies have shown that yoga practice also strengthens and tightens pelvic floor muscles [1, 3].

In urology the positive effects of yoga programs have been evaluated in prostate cancer treatment with beneficial effects on quality of life and urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy [1]. As well some studies have evaluated the role of YOGA in chronic pelvic pain highlighting a beneficial effect in terms of pain reduction (4 points VAS reduction) and improved quality of life (+70% improvement). Finally, some authors suggest a possible role for Yoga in relieving chronic prostatitis symptoms together with traditional Chinese medicine. However, the impact of Yoga on LUTS has been poorly studied, despite a rationale for conducting clinical trials in this area.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1

Data availability

Data and material are available upon request.

References

  1. Kaushik D, Shah PK, Mukherjee N, Ji N, Dursun F, Kumar AP, et al. Effects of yoga in men with prostate cancer on quality of life and immune response: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2022;25:531–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Culos-Reed SN, Dew M, Shank J, Langelier DM, McDonough M. Qualitative evaluation of a community-based physical activity and yoga program for men living with prostate cancer: survivor perspectives. Glob Adv Heal Med. 2019;8:2164956119837487.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cramer H, Lauche R, Klose P, Lange S, Langhorst J, Dobos GJ. Yoga for improving health-related quality of life, mental health and cancer-related symptoms in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017; 2017. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010802.pub2.

  4. De Nunzio C, Lombardo R, Cicione A, Trucchi A, Carter S, Tema G, et al. The role of bladder wall thickness in the evaluation of detrusor underactivity: Development of a clinical nomogram. Neurourol Urodyn. 2020;39:1115–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. De Nunzio C, Salonia A, Gacci M, Ficarra V. Inflammation is a target of medical treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia. World J Urol. 2020;38:2771–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Gacci M, Corona G, Sebastianelli A, Serni S, De Nunzio C, Maggi M, et al. Male lower urinary tract symptoms and cardiovascular events: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Urol. 2016;70:788–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lombardo R, Tema G, Cornu JN, Fusco F, McVary K, Tubaro A et al. The Urothelium, the urinary microbioma and men LUTS: a systematic review. Minerva Urol Nefrol. 2020. https://doi.org/10.23736/S0393-2249.20.03762-5.

  8. Mjaess G, Karam A, Roumeguère T, Diamand R, Aoun F, McVary K, et al. Urinary microbiota and prostatic diseases: the key for the lock? A systematic review. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/S41391-022-00602-W.

  9. Huang J, Chan CK, Yee S, Deng Y, Bai Y, Chan SC, et al. Global burden and temporal trends of lower urinary tract symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2022;26:1–8.

  10. De Nunzio C, Franco A, Lombardo R. LUTS/BPH and SARS-COV2: when a misunderstanding in the correct physiopathology results in incorrect associations. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2021;25:5–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Welliver C, Feinstein L, Ward JB, Kirkali Z, Martinez-Miller EE, Matlaga BR, et al. Poor clinical guideline adherence and inappropriate testing for incident lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2021;25:269–73.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Riccardo Lombardo, Matteo Romagnoli, Giorgia Tema, Antonio Nacchia, Antonio Franco, Antonio Cicione, Giorgio Franco, Andrea Tubaro & Cosimo De Nunzio

  2. Department of Urology, Catania University, Catania, Italy

    Giorgio Ivan Russo

Authors
  1. Riccardo Lombardo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Giorgio Ivan Russo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matteo Romagnoli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Giorgia Tema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Antonio Nacchia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Antonio Franco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Antonio Cicione
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Giorgio Franco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Andrea Tubaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Cosimo De Nunzio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

CDN: Protocol/project development, Data collection or management, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. AC: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing. GIR: Data collection or management, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. MR: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing. RL: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing, Data analysis. GT: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing, Data analysis. AN: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing, Data analysis. AF: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing. GF: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing. AT: Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Riccardo Lombardo.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lombardo, R., Russo, G.I., Romagnoli, M. et al. Yoga, benign prostatic hyperplasia and lower urinary tract symptoms: a new path for clinical trials. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-024-00788-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-024-00788-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links