Yoga as a protective lifestyle in the present post nuclear leakage crisis

Sir,

The concern of the nuclear contamination from Japan nuclear power plant is a present hot issue. Indeed, many alternative medicine practices may be useful for protection in a nuclear contamination crisis. Yoga can be a good protective lifestyle. Indeed, yoga is proven to improve glutathione and total antioxidant status, which is a protective factor for adverse effect for nuclear radiation hazard.[1] Bhattacharya et al., reported that “Yogic breathing exercises not only help in relieving the stresses of life but also improve the antioxidant status of the individual”.[2] These data suggest the possible role of yoga to decrease oxidative stress that may assist to prevent diseases from nuclear radiation. Indeed, the relationship between radiation damage and antioxidant is widely mentioned. Oxidative stress and free radical damage are important problems due to radiation exposure and, antioxidant is important for reducing the problem.[3] Hence, a possible mechanism of yoga in this case is adjustment of antioxidation property. However, further researches are required to verify the cellular and molecular mechanisms that remain as a challenge. Nevertheless, there are some evidences on the protective effect of Yoga practice for people who are exposed to radiation. In patients exposed to radiation in cancer therapy, which can be similar to exposure to leaked radiation in a nuclear crisis, Yoga practice provided both physical and psychological benefits.[4,5] It is also shown that Yoga practice reduced post radiation exposure DNA damage, which means reduction of oxidative stress.[4] Conclusively, the letter is aiming at stimulating further research in this area. It is not an original article to demonstrate the mechanism of the process but collective summarizing, not speculation, on the few existed evidence in this topic.