New Delhi:The age-old practice of Yoga might turn out to be the panacea for young IT andBPO professionals who are struck with what researchers describe as 'techno-stress'.

"Youngsters working in the IT sector and in call centres are leading astressful life. They have erratic work schedules. Their condition is beingdescribed as techno-stress," Director of Morarji Desai National Instituteof Yoga," Ishwar V Basavaraddi, said.

"A new research project undertaken to assess whether the traditionalsystem of Yoga could reduce and control the stress levels of theseprofessionals has shown some positive results," he said.

The project, which was started in May last year, was conducted in collaborationwith Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in which 180 people were drawnfrom the two fields.

"When we started the project, we found many of them suffered when theymoved their fingers, had eye-sight related problems, were going through erraticsleep patterns and had lost their appetites," Basavaraddi told sources.

Out of the 180, 90 of them were asked to practise different "asanas",partake a yogic diet and lead a healthy lifestyle.

"The way they work, sometimes the entire night on their computers, playhavoc with their systems. And it is natural that they suffer from fromtechno-stress. We are finding out whether yoga could reduce and control theproblem," he said.