Can breathing exercises really help improve asthma symptoms?
Some asthma patients claim that breathing exercises have helped them reduce
their asthma symptoms; in some cases quite dramatically. Is there any evidence
to back up their claims?
Breathing exercises are considered part of complementary and alternative medical treatments. There are many different kinds of breathing exercises - ranging from ancient techniques based on yoga to modern biofeedback training systems. On the face of it, claims of improvement may seem to have a basis, because asthma is a disease of the lungs and so might respond to training in breathing.
A study on this issue was published by Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. This study concluded that some types of alternative treatments may have a positive effect on asthma symptoms. The researchers say that both quality of life and lung function might be improved with breathing exercises. The authors mention that such exercises may form a useful complement to conventional medicine and that retaining exercises certainly warrant further research.
Pranayama Breathing Techniques
It appears that pranayama, which is a set of breathing techniques originating from yoga practices, is the most effective among the different types of training studied. Groups of adult asthmatics were trained in pranayama techniques and monitored for asthma. These persons showed considerable improvements in asthma symptoms.
Lung function is measured objectively using peak flow meters. The asthma patients above showed no improvements in lung function although their asthma symptoms certainly improved. Apart from pranayama, muscular relaxation techniques and Buteyko breathing techniques also resulted in improved asthma symptoms.
Some experts estimate that almost a third of all asthma patients have some degree of impairment in their breathing function. That is why a combination of biofeedback training and breathing exercises may help asthmatics.
Even in cases where such training does not directly improve asthma symptoms or lung function, learning to breathe properly is likely to have a positive impact on the patients' overall health and quality of life.
The researchers also observed that muscle relaxation training helps asthma patients breathe more easily than before. They studied a group of thirty three patients and found that their asthma symptoms as well as overall life quality improved significantly with the use of muscle relaxation techniques. Moreover, those improvements continued to be evident six months after the training was given.
A couple of other studies concluded that patients' dependence on bronchodilators came down with relaxation training. Not only did the quality of life improve, the patients' maximum inspiratory pressure also showed improvement.
Finally, the researchers suggested that further studies were needed to uncover the exact strategies that lead to the best improvements in asthma symptoms. Breathing right does have major health benefits.
This does not mean that you can toss out bronchodilators and be fine just by leaning yoga and relaxation. Both ongoing preventive medication as well as emergency relief medication is critically important. If you choose to take up breathing exercises or other types of complementary therapy, it is necessary to keep your doctor informed. He will be able to monitor your progress and make adjustments to your asthma management plan as needed.