COVID-19 and High altitude-induced hypoxic conditions and its management: A perspective for managing through Yoga

Abstract

COVID-19, is caused by a virus called  SARS-CoV-2 which  was initially found in China in the city of Wuhan  in 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. Latest  reports suggest that residing at high altitude may attenuate the infection and death. At high altitudes, the oxygen concentration available to the human body is low, hence people living there are chronically exposed to hypoxic conditions. Hypoxia is the condition where there is an inadequate supply of oxygen to the human body resulting in various symptoms including breathlessness, fatigue, and respiratory distress similar to COVID-19. Hypoxic pre conditioning (HPC) has been proposed to be non-invasive preventive measure against SARS-CoV-2 infection. This review article focuses on analysing coronavirus epidemiology at various heights  under high altitude in order to demonstrate that its residents are less susceptible to developing COVID-19 related respiratory complications. A natural way of inducing intermittent hypoxia is Pranayama (Yogic breathing technique) which involves controlled breathing techniques. Yoga and breathing practices are known to enhance angiogenesis, reduces inflammation, enhance  tissue repair and cell survival through its intermittent hypoxia mechanism. Yoga breathing can be an alternative therapy technique for COVID-19.