Oka, Takakazu, Tanahashi, Tokusei, Sudo, Nobuyuki et al. · BioPsychoSocial medicine · 2018 · DOI
This study tested whether a gentle form of yoga practiced while sitting could help reduce fatigue in ME/CFS patients. Fifteen patients who had not improved with standard treatments did sitting isometric yoga twice a week with an instructor plus daily practice at home for eight weeks. After a single session, patients reported feeling less tired and more energetic, with their bodies showing signs of reduced stress and inflammation.
Understanding the biological mechanisms by which yoga reduces fatigue in ME/CFS could help validate this intervention and identify why some patients respond while others do not. This mechanistic insight may inform personalized treatment approaches and strengthen the scientific evidence base for non-pharmacological interventions in this patient population.
This study does not prove that sitting isometric yoga will work for all ME/CFS patients, as the sample was small and treatment-resistant. It measures only acute, short-term effects after a single session rather than sustained long-term benefits. The correlations observed between biomarker changes and symptom improvement do not prove causation—these biological changes may be markers of improvement rather than drivers of it.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Oka, Takakazu, Tanahashi, Tokusei, Sudo, Nobuyuki, Lkhagvasuren, Battuvshin, & Yamada, Yu (2018). Changes in fatigue, autonomic functions, and blood biomarkers due to sitting isometric yoga in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. BioPsychoSocial medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-018-0123-2
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-oka-2018-changes-fatigue,
author = {Oka, Takakazu and Tanahashi, Tokusei and Sudo, Nobuyuki and Lkhagvasuren, Battuvshin and Yamada, Yu},
title = {Changes in fatigue, autonomic functions, and blood biomarkers due to sitting isometric yoga in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {BioPsychoSocial medicine},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1186/s13030-018-0123-2},
note = {PubMed: 29643935},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/oka-2018-changes-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/oka-2018-changes-fatigue
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