Study of Yoga as a Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Patients

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a lung disease that affects 30,000 children and adults in the US. Incorporation of regular exercise into the lives of patients with CF is of interest because it may improve lung function and quality of life. Yoga is an activity that may benefit patients with CF in many ways including strengthening muscles of breathing, improving lung function, and reducing stress which could improve quality of life and adherence to therapies. Yoga has been shown to be beneficial in patients with other lung diseases such as asthma, but has not yet been studied in CF. The investigators hypothesize that yoga will be an activity that is safe and tolerable for CF patients 12 to 25 years of age. The primary aim is to investigate the safety and tolerability of an 8 week yoga program for patients with CF. The secondary aim is to determine the effect of yoga on many aspects of CF disease including respiratory symptoms, adherence to regular CF therapies, quality of life, lung function, exercise tolerance, and nutritional status. The long-term goal is to use the data obtained in this study to design a future study of the efficacy of yoga in a larger population of CF patients at multiple CF centers. This research has the potential to influence the prevention and treatment of CF by providing data which could be used to help understand the most appropriate and beneficial type of physical activity for CF patients.