Obesity Indices and Ventilatory Function Responses to High-Level Laser Therapy in Subjects with Abdominal Obesity

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of pulsed Nd:YAG high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) on body weight (Wt), body–mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) in young adults with abdominal obesity (AO). Materials and methods: Thirty-seven young adult males (age 19–25 years) with BMI >30 kg/m2 and WC >102 cm participated in this 12-week, randomized controlled study and were randomly allocated into either Group I [received pulsed Nd:YAG HILT plus moderate-intensity aerobic exercise training (AET) program] or Group II (received placebo pulsed Nd:YAG HILT plus the same AET program). The variables were evaluated pre- and poststudy. Results: Poststudy mean values and percentages of changes were calculated for Wt [83.7 – 6.58 kg (-6.14%) and 88.71 – 5.09 kg (-4.29%)], BMI [29.27 – 1.06 kg/m2 (-6.14%) and 30.09 – 1.23 kg/m2 (-4.24%)], WC [105.44 – 5.84 cm (-3.78%) and 109.42 – 4.9 cm (-1.74%)], FVC [4.79 – 0.4 L (+13.6%) and 4.39 – 0.66 L (+5.89%)], and FEV1 [4.04 – 0.22 L (+16.4%) and 3.82 – 0.39 L (+8.8%)] for Group I and Group II, respectively. Between groups, there were significant differences in mean values of Wt (p = 0.014), BMI (p = 0.04), WC (p = 0.03), FVC (p = 0.03), and FEV1 (p = 0.04) at the end of the study, but in favor of Group I. Conclusions: Utilizing the pulsed Nd:YAG HILT as an adjunctive therapeutic modality proved to be effective in improving the anthropometric indices and ventilatory functions in subjects with AO.